


Lost and Found

by Cheshire_Hearts



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon, Canon-Typical Violence, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Headcanon, M/M, Megatron gets to be a dad, Mentioned Mechpreg, Original Character(s), Seekers, Starscream is a bit of a dork, Tiny bit of Angst, Transformer Sparklings, some medical talk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-07
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2018-10-29 04:09:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10846176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cheshire_Hearts/pseuds/Cheshire_Hearts
Summary: Retreating after a failed attempt to reclaim a Decepticon base, Megatron finds two sparklings trapped under the rubble of a collapsed building. He grabs them and flees the city, claiming them as his own when he finds out they were abandoned by their creators. After all, how hard can raising twin sparklings be?





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So I was watching Jurassic Park (the first one) and there's that part where Doctor Grant gets stuck in a tree with the kids and I just started laughing because awkward adults with clingy and terrified kids is funny and then I was reading Transformers fanfiction and this happened...  
> I have five chapters written, but only three are typed up, so I'll be posting at least once a week. The next few weeks are going to be crazy though 'cause finals are coming up...

“Fall back!” A deep voice roared over the battlefield. Megatron fired his cannon at the closest Autobot, clipping the mech’s shoulder before he ducked behind a crumbling wall. ::Starscream, call a full retreat, this base is a complete ruin now. :: The Warlord commed his SIC.

::Of course, Lord Megatron.:: There was a brief pause before the Seeker spoke again ::Retreat is an advisable option as Soundwave has just informed me of an Autobot ship heading for the outer city. He claims it’s likely carrying explosives and there’s really little else the Autobots would use it for other than turning the city to dust in a breem or so. :: Starscream replied calmly.

::Thank you for the warning. I want you to call the retreat and to send out a squadron of Seekers to slow that ship down to give our ground troops plenty of time to make it to the Ground Bridge.::

::Understood, My Lord, consider it already done.::

Megatron couldn’t help the snort at his Second’s words, but not even a full klik later was the command for a full scale retreat issued over their comms. He waited half a klik to make sure his frontliners and scouts were starting to fall back toward the warehouse district before he began moving further into the city’s ruins. The citizens had either fled after the Decepticons took the city a deca-cycle ago or had been terminated during the first set of bombs dropped two solar cycles ago if they were lucky. The unlucky ones ended up dying slowly of their wounds or were killed defending themselves.

The silver mech slipped through the center square and then down a narrow alleyway, always heading toward the Ground Bridge’s coordinates. A few of the buildings creaked ominously and bits of dust and debris rained onto his shoulder pauldrons as he passed by. He moved quickly, keeping an optic on the shadows near him for any sign of Autobot scouts who were foolish enough to have moved this far into the doomed city. The entire trip felt too easy to Megatron as he slipped closer to the warehouse district. He was waiting for enemies who weren’t even there to jump out at him.

Movement to his right caught his attention and his fusion cannon was up and charging before he even looked in that direction. He froze when his optics landed on the two huddled figures trapped slightly under a section of collapsed roof. The sight made his energon boil in his lines as a furious growl made its way from the back of his throat. He blamed the Autobots and their cowardly ways for this. They were, after all, the ones who had dropped the bombs on the Decepticon controlled city after their first failed attempt to take it back. 

He started to walk away, there wasn’t much he could do for them any more, when a near silent whimper made him freeze in his tracks yet again. He slowly turned his gaze back to the collapsed roof and the two sparklings trapped under it. He had thought they were both dead, but he jolted when a pair of weak, golden optics met his own crimson ones. It was a miracle the sparkling was still alive, even more so that he was awake.

“Please,” the voice was weak and barely audible, the golden optics already dimming as the sparkling started to slip into unconsciousness again.

Megatron made his decision then, quickly moving to the collapsed roof and safely removing as much debris as he could until he was able to pull both sparklings from the wreckage. Both were injured but still alive. The silver mech looked them over quickly, noting that none of the injuries looked sever and they were mainly just covered in a thick layer of dust and grime. They each whimpered as Megatron shuffled them around in his arms awkwardly. A slightly worried ping from Soundwave appeared on his HUD. The short message said almost all of their troops had made it through the Ground Bridge and that Megatron and any others had a little more than two kliks to retreat before the first of the bombs would drop.

The Warlord grumbled irritably, but turned and jogged briskly for the bridge, trying not to jostle the little ones he was carrying. He wondered briefly who would leave them behind, but pushed the thought aside. He would have time to think about it later. He sent Soundwave a request to have a medic ready in the Officer’s medbay when the warehouse was in sight before cutting the comm. when his TIC sent an affirmative. His audio receptors picked up the distinct hum of the Ground Bridge when he entered the warehouse. He didn’t even bother to slow his pace as he passed through it.


	2. One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Megatron gets the sparklings to the med bay so Knock Out can check on them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I think I'm going to be posting every Friday. Next week is my last week of school until summer break so I'll have finals, but I have like two and a half chapters already written and like two typed up so I'll be able to post one next week too.  
> This is also a short chapter, but the next one is a lot longer :3

The old Gladiatorial ring in Kaon was absolute chaos when Megatron came through the bridge. With soldiers and medics running around trying to get to where ever they were needed the most, anguished cries from mechs injured in the various battles and skirmishes that had been going on the past Solar cycles, and even Starscream’s shrill voice echoed over the noise as he shrieked commands.

Megatron took a klik to observe the ordered chaos around him before he moved away from where the Ground Bridge had been. He sent a quick comm. to Knock Out to meet him below the field in the officer's private medical bay. Most of the mechs around him paid no attention to their leader, only acknowledging him as he passed by them without bothering to look away from what they were doing. None of his officers paid him much attention as he passed either. They were all too busy dealing with the fallout of a retreat and the loss of a key base, not to mention a million other things as well. It wasn’t as if Megatron even minded their inattention. It just meant he could get to medical quickly without anyone stopping him and questioning him about the sparklings he was cradling against his chassis.

It took the Warlord little to no time at all to reach the edge of the sandy ring and the heavily reinforced gates leading into the main building of the Gladiatorial ring and the Decepticon headquarters. The gates had already been opened wide and Megatron walked swiftly through them toward the private medical bay reserved for high ranking officers and himself. Knock Out sent him a short message saying he had prepared medical for him and everything was ready for whatever injuries he might have. Megatron highly doubted the medic was prepared for what he was actually carrying and the thought of a dumbstruck Knock Out amused him a little.

The hallways were quiet and devoid of life on his way to the med bay as most mecha were busy out in the ring or out on scouting missions. A few were likely at monitors in the command center as well. The med bay doors slide open when he approached them, causing the dark red speedster to jerk to attention on the far side of the room. Knock Out turned around quickly and made it halfway to the Warlord before he froze in his tracks. His optics were glued on the two still forms cradled against Megatron’s chest plates.

“Doctor,” Megatron said curtly as he made his way to the medical berth and carefully laid both sparklings on it.

“Ah, right my Lord,” the medic said with a slight hysterical laugh before he shook himself out of his stupor. He pulled out his scanner and let the beam fall over each of his patients. He narrowed his optics at the results, muttering under his breath at what he was reading.

“What was that, Knock Out?”

The red mech jerked his helm up to the Warlord as he shifted his weight nervously from one pede to the other. “Well, they’re both very young, probably only a few vorns old. They look a lot worse than they actually are, and my scanners haven’t indicated anything worse than a few dings and scrapes; although one does have a fractured leg strut, but it’s not that bad. It should only take a dec-cycle to fully heal if he stays off of it after I’ve set it. What concerns me more than that is the amount of dust and whatever else was floating around the air that might have made it into their intakes and vents. It shouldn’t be too bad, but they might have issues later on. I’ll look into it to make sure though.”

“Why not just weld the fractured leg strut?”

“There’s a high chance it could put unneeded stress on such a young system and cause problems with growth later on. It’s best to just set it and let his own systems heal it.” The medic explained as he shifted his weight again.

“Is there anything else, Knock Out?” The Warlord asked calmly as he caught the slightly nervous movement.

“Ah, it would seem that they’ve either gone without energon for a few solar cycles or that they’ve been living off of barely refined, possibly old, fuel for about a deca-cycle. Because they’re so young I’ll need to give them a transfusion before I can actually do anything for them. I can’t just hook them up to a drip, it could over stress their systems too much.” It was obvious that Knock Out was withholding some information, but Megatron didn’t think twice about it. Whatever it was wasn’t important. Either that or he wouldn’t understand it since he didn’t have a medic’s training like Knock Out and it wouldn’t mean much to him.

Rage was boiling in his lines again, but he forced the feeling down. Getting angry at Knock Out would solve nothing. “I see. Does it matter where the transfusions come from?”

“No my Lord, any mech or femme can give them it, but I would advise it to be sooner rather than later. They’re very young to go this long without proper fuel and it would be bad to just give them regular fuel. I can’t even start to clean them up and fix their injuries without that transfusion first. They will just keep getting worse and worse without it too.” The red medic explained calmly as he got everything ready he would need for both the transfusion and fixing the sparklings. He kept an optic on the other mech in the room, curiosity filling him over how Megatron managed to find his two patients.

“Use my energon for the transfusion then.”

Knock out froze for a moment and looked at his leader. “Of course, Lord Megatron,” he replied after seeing the serious expression on the other mech’s face.

The medic got to work quickly and the entire procedure, from the transfusion to cleaning and setting the broken leg strut, took little over a cycle to complete. Both sparklings easily fit on the med berth side by side with plenty of room left over. Now that they were finally cleaned of all the dust and built up grime, which Knock Out was horrified over, it was easy to see the shining white with light blue accents on the smaller one’s frame and the dark blue with silver accents on the other’s frame.

“They should be awake in a cycle or two,” Knock Out said quietly next to the silver mech who had taken up a seat as close to the med berth as he could get without being in the medic’s way.

“Thank you, Knock Out. I’ll wait here with them. Your expertise are probably required elsewhere at the moment.”

“Ah yes, Breakdown and Hook could probably use my help out in the ring by now.” He mumbled before grabbing his medical kit and excusing himself as he exited the room. It was obvious the Decepticon leader didn't want him around for a while.  


::Lord Megatron:: Starscream’s annoyed voice sounded over his comm. link when the silver mech finally accepted the slightly urgent ping.  


The silver mech barely resisted a loud ex-vent at being bothered by his SIC. ::What do you want now, Starscream.:: He snapped.

::I do hope you’ll be able to join Soundwave and myself at Command, it would be a terrible thing if you are too injured to do so.::

Megatron couldn’t stop himself from rolling his optics at his SIC’s over worried tone that was obviously faked. ::Come to the med bay with Soundwave. You can both bring your reports to me then.:: He cut the call before the Seeker got the chance to respond and amused himself for a klik about what Starscream’s reaction might have been. He would have Soundwave show it to him later that evening.

While he could go wherever he pleased at the moment, he didn’t want to leave the sparklings alone in the med bay. While they had a whole cycle until they were supposed to wake up, he didn’t want to leave on the off chance he got waylaid in the hallways or they woke up earlier than expected. Besides, the thought of Starscream's reaction to them kept popping up in his mind and he couldn't deny wanting to see it.  



	3. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Starscream and Soundwave make it to the medical bay and the sparklings wake up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally finished with finals at my college and am free for the summer so I'll be able write a lot more. This is also a really long chapter, longer than usual for me, mostly cause there wasn't a good ending point...  
> Have fun reading it all :3

Barely a breem later, the medical bay doors slide open to reveal an over excited and overly dramatic Seeker. It looked like Starscream had worked himself up over imagined injuries to his Commander after the comm. line had been dropped.

“My Lord, we came as swiftly as we could. Where is Knock Out? He should be here watching over you!” The Seeker snapped out with his wings flicked back and twitching minutely. Megatron raised an optic ridge at his puffed up Second. It took Starscream a klik of scrutinizing the silver mech before he deflated a little at noticing how he wasn’t on the medical berth and was seemingly uninjured. “Why are you not lying down?”

“I’m not injured as you can probably tell,” the silver mech said and was pleased by Starscream’s in-eloquent stammering and sputtering. He had yet to notice the berth’s actual occupants.

“Lord Megatron,” Soundwave spoke up and stepped around the Seeker and his flared wings. “Request to know reason for meeting in the medical bay if you are unharmed.”

“I didn’t feel like leaving them on their own.” His voice was quiet as he looked over at the sparklings.

“Them–” Starscream cut himself off when his optics landed on the berth and saw the two occupants. The room was deathly silent for half a klik, but things rarely stayed quiet for long when Starscream was involved after all.

“Sparklings,” the jet surprisingly whispered in awe. He snapped out of his daze quickly though and his helm jerked over to Megatron with optics widening almost comically. The Decepticon leader knew his SIC was about to reach new heights of screeching. “Where in the Pit did you find twin sparklings!”

“Silence!” He snapped at the Seeker not wanting the little ones to be disturbed from their rest. He continued when Starscream snapped his mouth shut. “They were buried under rubble that I passed while retreating from the Autobots. Knock Out said they’re fine, but I didn’t want to leave them alone in case they woke early to find themselves alone in an unknown place.”

The Seeker nodded slowly, his optics still locked on the two younglings as he moved closer to look at them. “They are indeed too young to be left alone for long. You made a wise decision to bring them in, my Lord.”

Starscream cocked his head to the side as he regarded them before reaching out a servo to touch their plating. A deep growl emanated from Megatron’s chest, causing the Seeker to jerk his servo away as he jumped back from the berth.

“Give me your report and leave, Starscream,” the silver mech snarled menacingly.

"Hehe, of course my Lord,” Starscream laughed nervously and left as quickly as he could. He practically sprinted out of the medical bay.

Megatron turned his gaze back to his Third who was regarding him silently, helm tilted slightly. It was only because of how long he had known the silent mech that Megatron could read the question in his TIC’s body language. “What is it, Soundwave?”

“Request permission to know Megatron’s plans for sparkling twins?

The commander looked back down at the white and blue sparklings next to him, finally deciding on a course of action. “I plan on claiming them as my own and raising them as my heirs.” He said quietly. He was glad he’d kicked his Second out of the room. He could hear Starscream’s shrill shriek perfectly and even the spluttered indignation at his Lord’s decision. Luckily, Soundwave remained absolutely quiet for a few kliks as he thought over the new information and what it would mean for the both of them. It was obvious to Megatron that his Third was also going over his own response and making sure he said exactly what he meant. It was something he’d been working on for a few stellar cycles after they’d more or else crashed into their relationship.

“Soundwave, wishes to assist Megatron with sparklings.” The dark mech finally responded with a slight twitch of his fingers.

“I would gladly take all the help you could give me with them Soundwave.” The silver mech was smiling slightly at his most loyal follower and closest friend. “I don’t doubt I’ll need help with these two and out of the two of use, you have the most experience with raising young mechs. I’ll comm. you when they wake up from their recharge.”

The silent mech respectfully inclined his helm and handed Megatron a datapad, making sure their fingers brushed against each other. He turned and silently left the room. Megatron smirked at his Conjunx’s exit before looking over the datapads in his servos. He let out a huff, subspaced Soundwave’s report, and then started to read Starscream’s. His Second’s reports had shocked him when he first started reading them. They were always straight to the point and almost too business like, something Megatron had difficulty wrapping his processor around considering Starscream’s over dramatic tendencies. He figured it had something to do with the fact that the Seeker had been a scientist and explorer before he joined the Decepticon cause and became not only the Air Commander but also his Second in Command. The reports were usually very thorough, but Megatron knew his Second had a tendency to leave certain things out of them or to put more focus on unimportant things in his need to acquire more political power. At least they never failed to amuse the Warlord.

Soundwave’s reports, on the other hand, were almost the exact opposite of the Seeker’s. Starscream’s reports were usually somewhat colorful or at least amusing to him. His Communication’s Chief tended to turn in dry reports that were mostly redundant until something of import came up. There was also the occasional tidbit of gossip involved, not that either Soundwave or Megatron paid much attention to it. That was Starscream and Knock Out’s area of expertise.

He had made it halfway through Soundwave’s report when he heard a quiet groan and a little whimper of pain. He sent a quick comm. to both Knock Out and Soundwave that the sparklings were coming out of recharge. The Warlord placed the datapads into his subspace and moved his chair closer to the berth, laying a gentle servo against the darker sparkling’s plating. Beautiful golden optics onlined and opened, looking up at him for a moment as they focused on the silver mech’s face plates.

“Who-where?” the little one said groggily, causing Megatron to grin slightly.

“You and your sibling are safe now. There is no reason to worry.” He reassured quietly.

The dark blue sparkling nodded slowly and then pushed himself into a sitting position. His sibling groaned at the lose of a warm frame against his own and slowly onlined his icy blue optics. Both stared up at him in curiosity as their optics focused. Nothing happened for about half a klik.

“Who are you?” The dark blue one asked, cocking his helm to the side. His pointed audial fins twitched forward in interest.

Megatron actually chuckled a little at the question. It had been such a long time since any mech had asked him that question. Even longer since any mech had asked him out of innocent curiosity. It was a nice change.

“You don’t recognize me?” Both shook their heads and two sets of audial fins perked up in curiosity. “I’ll tell you my designation if you tell me yours.”

“No way!” The white sparkling said and puffed up his armor in an adorable attempt to look bigger and scarier. Megatron just raised an optic ridge at the outburst, but waited for the little one to continue. “We asked you first so you have to tell us who you are before we’ll tell you our designations.”

Megatron couldn't help the chuckle he released at the brave little sparkling and watched with amusement as the sound made the young mechling puff his armor up even more. “If you insist then. I am Megatron, leader of the Decepticons.”

“The what?” The dark blue mechling asked as his audial fins dropped slightly and his optics narrowed. He even shifted slightly in front of his twin. Megatron wondered if he had heard the name before and wanted to make sure he was hearing things correctly or if the youngling truly didn’t know who the Decepticons were.

“The Decepticons. We are called rebels by the Autobots because we fight against the Council’s oppression of lower class mechs and wish for everyone to be treated equally.” He explained calmly and smiled at them. He noticed how the white sparkling visibly flinched at the mention of the Autobots and the tiny snarl that echoed from his twin’s vocalizer. Megatron raised an optic ridge at their reactions and decided to guess at why the name bothered them. “So, you do know it was the Autobots who dropped the bombs on your city and near your home?”

Both jerked back and looked at him with wide optics as if he’d just grown a second head. He almost wanted to check too. “They did that too.” Cleanser fluid appeared in icy blue optics and his voice wavered dangerously, catching in his intake. Snowy white audial fins dropped and pressed against his helm as he clutched at his brother’s arm and his plating started to shake.

Megatron never got a chance to really react other than his own optics widening as he reached out to them ready to ask them what had happened. The med bay doors slide open and Knock Out practically stormed in. The sparklings gasped and stared at him with slight horror. “Sorry for taking so long, my Lord. I got held up trying to put a poor Seeker’s wing back together again. Luckily I had my wonderful assistant with me so he could take over when all the delicate parts were fixed. Can’t say Breakdown is exactly happy about it though.” If anything, the smile he sent Megatron’s way just made him more terrifying to the sparklings than anything else; even the fact he was splattered with and dripping copious amounts of energon everywhere he went.

“So I see, Knock Out.” He muttered as the medic went to one of the cabinets and pulled out cleaning supplies for himself. He was complaining the entire time about his paint job and finish being ruined.

The silver mech tried to ignore his vain medic, but the twins just stared at the red speedster with a little bit of awe mixed into their overall fear. The fear in their optics was dissipating as more red showed and more energon disappeared. It made the silver mech grin a little. If Knock Out turned around and saw their looks, his ego would never come back down to the ground. He needed to prevent that from happening or else the medic would be even harder to deal with.

“You two never told me your designations.” Amusement was thick in his voice, but the twins didn’t seem to notice as their attention turned to him instead of the grumbling medic.

“I’m Seacrystal,” The darker blue mechling said before pointing to his brother. “This is Snowdrift. We’re spark split twins.”

“We already know that you’re twins from a quick medical scan.” Knock Out’s voice rang out from the farthest corner as he rubbed yet another cleaning cloth over his armor. Even from where he sat, the large mech could smell the antiseptic fluid on the cloth and crinkled his olfactory sensors at the sharp scent.

“Your sparks are a perfect match to each other that only happens with spark splint twins. Ugh, this is always so much easier with Breakdown’s help” The medic let out another disgusted noise as he failed to reach drying energon on his back plates between his shoulders. He threw the cloth down on the counter and decided to just wait for the other mech to return and help him finish cleaning. It also occurred to him that said cleaning could also happen in a private wash rack later that night and he could probably convince his conjunx to buffer out all the minor dings and scratches he’d gotten that day too.

“Speaking of Breakdown,” Megatron’s smooth voice broke Knock Out from his musings. “Where exactly is your assistant? I would’ve figured he’d want to see these two and not even a Seeker with a broken wing could distract him for very long.”

“Oh, he’s likely still out in the ring or the other med bay doing patches or checking over any other wounded troops if he’s finished with Skyfall. There wasn’t much left to do with his wing and other minor injuries from his crash landing, so it’s likely Breakdown’s moved on. I told him to stay away for a little bit. I want to keep these two in here for a few days to rest and gain more strength before we let others see them. I don’t know how strong their immune systems are and I don’t want to stress them out with mechs and femmes swarming them.”

“Soundwave will be very disappointed. I think he managed to stop working for once and is heading over here right now to see them.”

At the mention of the Communication Chief’s name, the red speedster looked absolutely terrified for a sparkbeat before he forced out a smile. It looked more like a pained grimace than anything else. “As your conjunx and as silent as Soundwave can be, my Lord, I’ll allow him in here to visit for a short time; although I would prefer if his symbionts stayed out, especially Frenzy and Rumble. Those two always cause trouble.”

Megatron nodded and was preparing to answer his medic when Snowdrift started yelling at them. “Hey! What about us! Don’t we get a say in any of this!”

"Snow, quiet down. No one likes it when you yell all the time.” Seacrystal said quietly, grabbing his sibling's arm. The white sparkling went quiet and settled against his brother’s side with a pout on his face.

“I'm only making decisions any doctor would with two young sparklings who have obviously just gone through a very traumatic experience. I’d like you to recharge and refuel and to not go running all over my med bay.” Knock Out explained as calmly as he could. The two sparklings settled down, but Snowdrift kept his plating puffed up slightly.

Knock Out turned toward the Decepticon leader with the intention of asking him a question, but the med bay doors slide open interrupting him. He let out an annoyed huff, but remained quiet and watched the sparklings reactions to the new mech. Soundwave walked in near silence across the room, stopping next to Megatron with a slight bow. He turned to Knock Out and gave the medic a slight nod of acknowledgment.

“Soundwave, I’m glad you could make it. I know how busy you can get at times and how devoted you are to your work.”

Snowdrift and Seacrystal’s optics were wide and glued to the strange, slim mech standing before them. His violet plating gleamed in the dim lights of the med bay. They’d also never seen a mech with spikes quite like his before nor had they seen a mech with so many of them. The visor covering his entire face was new too. Soundwave was unlike any other mech or femme they had seen before. Said mech inclined his helm toward them, making Megatron chuckle slightly. Leave it to his Third to keep up professional appearances in front of sparklings.

"Snowdrift and Seacrystal,” the large mech responded to the quiet question in Soundwave’s body posture. “Knock Out has informed me that they are fine and just need time to rest and recover from the stress.”

Soundwave appeared to go over that bit of information for a klik before his visor filled with scrawling glyphs and charts. Megatron let out a sigh knowing how to read his lover enough to know that meant he had to get back to his monitors and corral a few hundred mechs and femmes. “Soundwave, allowed to return after duties?”

Knock Out wasn’t sure if the twins’ optics could get any bigger, but they did at the unexpected deep voice from the Communications Chief. “Of course,” he said and leaned his hip against a nearby counter. “Just make sure if your symbiotes join you they behave, especially Rumble and Frenzy. They cause enough trouble as it is and I’d prefer it if they didn’t wreck havoc in my med bay. Not to mention the sparklings don’t need rambunctious symbiotes running around.”

“Understood.” With that done, Soundwave turned and left the room just as silently as he had entered it.

Knock Out decided now might be a good time to ask Megatron his earlier question and the one that had been on his glossa since the Warlord had brought the sparklings into the medical bay. “My Lord, if I may, what exactly do you plan on doing with them now?”

Megatron smirked over at the medic. “Since I found them abandoned and brought them in, I figured it’s only honorable of me to claim them as my own and raise them.” The med bay was absolutely silent for about a klik before the sparklings and Knock Out let out a collective shout of “What!?”

Knock Out easily yelled over the other two and they fell silent. “You can't just randomly pick up sparklings and claim them! Did you even think of asking them what they want!?”

“He didn’t!” Snowdrift snapped out only for his brother to shush him. The dark red medic gave Megatron a stern look at the response.

With an amused chuckle, the silver mech turned from the medic to look over at the two younglings. “Well, what would you like me to do? Soundwave is a very busy mech, but extremely capable and I don’t doubt he could find out what happened to your Creators and even find out where they are. Or, you are more than welcome to remain here with us and be my heirs.”

Snowdrift opened his mouth, ready to say something, but his brother quickly covered it with his servo. He whispered something into his twins pointed audio receptor, which lead into a rather heated, whispered debate. It ended with Snowdrift pouting, nearly in tears, and crossing his arms over his chest, slouching in defeat. He refused to look at anyone as his sibling sighed quietly and pressed into his side.

“We want you to look for our Creator’s” Seacrystal started. Megatron managed to hold in his emotions, not letting them show on his faceplates or in his EM field. He didn’t want anyone in the room to know how disappointed he was at that statement. “They tried to separate us and then, when they couldn’t, they just left us on our own. There was no reason for them to do that.”

His voice wavered, nearly breaking and giving out. It was obvious he was trying to be strong, not for the grown mechs in the room, but for his brother. It didn’t really work. Snowdrift let out a stressed whimper and Megatron moved from his chair without a thought to the two sparklings. He perched on the edge of the berth and reached out to them, gently brushing his claws against Snowdrift’s cheek and Seacrystal’s back. Both sparklings froze and looked up at the large mech with wide optics. Snowdrift was the first to break the stillness even Knock Out had been holding, rubbing his face into Megatron’s palm before climbing into his lap and curling against his chassis. Seacrystal moved next, getting closer to the large mech’s side and pushing his back into the servo stroking his plating. It was then he noticed the little protrusions on either side of the mechling's spinal struts that could only be where his doorwings would eventually grow from as he got older and could take on a vehicular form.

The Warlord shift further onto the berth, pulling the darker sparkling onto his lap next to his brother. Seacrystal curled against both his brother and Megatron’s chassis with a quiet sniffle. He tried his best to sooth them. It wasn’t like he had much practice soothing sparklings, the closest experience he had with something like this was soothing and calming Soundwave’s symbiotes, so he ran his claws carefully over their backs in a way that normally calmed Lazerbeak and Buzzsaw. It seemed to work as they both burrowed closer to his stomach. It took Seacrystal almost an entire breem to calm himself down enough to continue.

"We want you to look for them,” he continued quietly. “But we want to stay with you.”

At the quiet admission, Megatron’s spark soared and he didn’t try to hide his smile at their decision nor did he hide how his EM field flared happily. It would’ve been impossible. “Of course you can stay with me here. I’ll have Soundwave look into your Creators for you and see what he can find out. For now though, I think Knock Out wants you two to recharge for a little longer. As your medic, he has more say in the matter than I do. He also worries over all of his patients almost as much as his finish.”

Knock Out made a noise as Megatron chuckled at him. “We’ll only recharge if you promise to stay with us.” Snowdrift said, raising his head a little to look up at the silver mech. His pointed audial fins twitched slightly.

“I’ll stay. I’m sure my Second is more than capable of taking care of things on his own for now. I will have to leave if there’s an emergency though.

Both sparklings’ helms snapped up to look at him with frightened optics at the thought of being left alone. Before either of them got the chance to protest, Knock Out spoke up. “I’ll be staying here as well in my office next door. All you have to do is call out for me and I’ll be in here in a sparkbeat to check on you two. On the off chance Megatron _may_ have to leave, I’ll move my work in here so I can keep an optic on you and you won’t be alone. But you do need to recharge. Your systems are stressed out enough as it is without you two getting the proper amount of restful recharge. When you wake up, I’ll give you each a half ration of energon and check to see how Seacrystal’s split is holding up.”

Megatron narrowed his optics, preparing to ask his medic why the sparklings would only be getting half rations when it was clear they needed more energon, but the little one’s beat him to it. “What splint?” they asked at the same time.

Knock Out pointed to the small metal splint on Seacrystal’s left leg. “It’s only a minor fracture and the splint should only be on for a about a decacycle at most, probably less depending on how quickly and how well your self repair systems work.”

Both sparklings were too preoccupied with staring at the foreign object on one of their legs with wide optics to really hear what the medic had told them. “Why doesn’t it hurt?” The dark blue mechling asked finally with a slight waver to his voice.

“I blocked the pain receptors in that leg, but the block won’t last forever. If the pain becomes too much I can always apply another. I’d like to stay away from pain killers since you’re still so young and you don’t have anything in your tanks at the moment.”

They both just kept staring at the splint, nodding slightly to let Knock Out know they’d heard him. “Why only half rations?” Megatron asked calmly.

“Too much in one go now could over stress their weakened systems. Not only that, but they aren’t that old anyways. A full ration would be too much for them even if they weren’t malnourished.”

“Of course.” He looked down at Snowdrift and Seacrystal, running his claws over their backs again to get their attention. When both looked up at him, he gave them reassuring smile. “Recharge for now, little ones. I will stay here and watch over you. No harm will come to you under my watch and protection.” They nodded and nestled into Megatron’s chassis before powering down and slipping into recharge.


	4. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Megatron and Soundwave finally have that talk they've been meaning to have. Sort of...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a little late, I've been sick all week and some other stuff happened.  
> Anyways, have fun reading this chapter :3

Megatron tried to go back to reading his officer’s report, but he was far too distracted by the two sparklings curled up against his abdominal plates. They would curl closer to his warmth or twitch minutely occasionally, breaking his concentration on Soundwave’s report. It was strange to think they were his now. He’d always wanted one and now he had two. Miners didn’t live long lives and even if they did, the mines were no place for Carrying or raising a sparkling. The Pits of Kaon were hardly any better, it was hard for even full grown mechs to survive and sparklings had been unheard of, especially in the Gladiatorial rings. They had been a dream of his, a foolish dream that never went away even after all the vorns that had passed and now here he was with two sparklings happily clutching at his plating and nuzzling into it as if he was one of their Creators. It was enough to make his spark soar and not even the weight of the war could bring it down. At least not yet anyways.

The side door to Knock Out’s office and private rooms slide open suddenly as the red sports car exited it. Megatron raised an optic ridge at the medic who was practically sprinting across the med bay. The bright red ‘con was almost at the main doors when he slide to a stop on his pedes, spun back around to face Megatron and his two patients, and briskly walked to the Warlord. He pulled two small cubes of energon from his subspace that were each half full and handed them to the curious Warlord, who slipped them into his own subspace without a second thought.

“Those are for them whenever they wake up. I really wasn’t planning on leaving at all, but it turns out both Hook and Breakdown need my help immediately. I’ll try to be back as soon as I can, but it sounds like this could take a long time to fix.”

Megatron gave the medic a nod and watched him run from the room. It was rare to see Knock Out run anywhere and the silver mech hoped whatever crisis required his attention could be fixed with minimal lingering injuries for their patient. Even with those thoughts he still couldn’t help the quiet chuckle that escaped his vocalizer at the medic’s hasty exit. 

He somehow managed to turn his attention back to the datapad in his servo and continued working. He absentmindedly stroked a servo over the twins’ backs and sides when they whimpered in their recharge, offering what little comfort he could. 

It took him another cycle to finish the report and he pulled another datapad from his subspace. It seemed as if his work never ended even with all of his officers, the lower ranked ones included. He powered it on and grumbled when he saw five new entries had been added since he’d last looked at it the solar cycle before. He wondered where Barricade found all the time to put together a list, go through reports, and then sort through all the requests for supplies for the  _ entire  _ Decepticon army and the cities they had control over. It was baffling and, as far as Megatron knew, the Decepticon Enforcer made sure everyone, even the drones, got a say in what was needed or what might be needed eventually. 

He was an amazing provisions officer and the silver mech was pretty sure Barricade had no help at all doing his job. Then again, Megatron didn’t really bother with that part of the Cause, he couldn’t really. He knew Soundwave kept a closer optic on it than he did, but even the Communication’s Officer was unsure of Barricade’s whole network and how it worked. The black and white mech had a good handle on it and sent him updates on all the important things he needed to know on the datapad he was looking over. The only problem he still had with it was keeping up with all the updates as the Cause got bigger and they became more spread out.

He decided to just start off where he left off the solar cycle before, silently thanking the Enforcer for his organization style and only sending short updates on his reports. He only ever sent requests to Megatron if they required his attention or if they were harder to acquire requests. It took the silver mech an entire cycle to get through three entrees, most he sent to Swindle and only a few were sent back to Barricade with an affirmative to get the needed supplies to where they needed to be. He made sure to update the pad so that Barricade knew what he had done and where some of the new supplies would be coming from. 

He was tired and the thought of lying down to recharge with Snowdrift and Seacrystal was almost too tempting to ignore when the door slide open. Soundwave slipped inside quietly and walked over to the berth they were on. Megatron smiled at his lover and quickly put the datapad away. Perhaps he was going to get a few cycles of recharge after all and with his sparkmate.

“Lord Megatron,” the other mech said with a slight nod of his helm. “How are the sparklings condition?”

The silver mech couldn’t help his low chuckle. “There is no need for that here Soundwave. Knock Out is not here at the moment and he likely won’t be back for half a solar cycle, possibly longer. It’s just the two of us and the little ones, but I don’t think they’ll be up anytime soon.”

Soundwave stood for a moment before one of his data cables extended from his chest and hooked up to the closest monitor. Glyphs and codes streamed across Soundwave’s visor for a klik before a set flashed brightly and then the entire visor went dark. The cable retracted as the violet mech walked closer to the berth. He paused for a moment and Megatron could easily read the tension and hesitation in the other mech’s frame.

“You don’t have to remove your visor or mask if you’re uncomfortable doing so, Soundwave.” He spoke quietly and gave the other a gently smile reserved only for his bonded.

The thin mech stayed frozen for a klik longer. There was a quiet click before Soundwave reached up and removed his visor and mask. He placed it carefully on the table next to the medical berth, looking up at Megatron afterwards. The silver mech smiled at him, holding out a servo to his lover. Soundwave took it and let the other help pull him onto the berth even if he didn’t need the help.

“Beautiful,” Megatron whispered and nuzzled into Soundwave’s neck cables. He let out a sound that was close to a purr, wrapping an arm around the other’s narrow waist and drawing him closer to his chassis.

Soundwave’s EM field relaxed at his conjunx’s compliment and he relaxed further into the other’s side. Megatron never missed an opportunity to praise or compliment Soundwave or tell him how much the other mech meant to him. It was always easy for him too. As far as the Warlord was concerned, Soundwave was the most attractive mech he’d ever met. With his amethyst colored optics that were so full of life and his handsome faceplates, it was hard not to. There were, of course, multiple reasons why Soundwave wore the visor and used a vocoder to hid his true voice. The main reason, which Megatron thought was obsolete now that the war had started full force, was the fact Soundwave had once been a noble. They rarely talked about it, the only reason Megatron even knew was because Soundwave had shown him when they bonded, including the reasons he’d ended up in Kaon of all places as a Gladiator. Neither mech wanted to really discuss the whole thing aside from the first time, so they never did. It was easier that way.  


The second main reason was the scar and slightly cracked faceplate. The scar wasn’t even that bad in the silver mech’s opinion, but it still bothered Soundwave that it would give other mechs another reason to stare and gawk at him. The scar started on the left side of his jaw and rose over his cheek and left optic ridge with spiderwebbed cracks around most of that optic. While he’d gotten the optic replaced, it didn’t work correctly and likely never would, so the visor was needed to help the spy see and hide the scar he found ugly. The silver mech didn’t agree with it being ugly, but he understood Soundwave and by extension, understood why the mech needed and wanted to wear it all the time.

The visor made him comfortable. With so many mecha already staring at him he wasn’t going to give them any other reason to do so. It was something the silent mech couldn’t stand. It was also the reason he moved silently or in the shadows at all times, he avoided others as much as he was able too; although he was getting better and less jumpy about being stared at. The mech was surprisingly self conscious and more nervous than most would believe, but Megatron had never cared about any of that. Sounwave was his and he was perfect in every way.

Soundwave relaxed even more against his sparkmate when Megatron started rubbing his thumb over his side plating. “How are they?” he asked quietly while looking down at the sparklings.

The Warlord smirked into his mates neck. And there was the reason for the vocoder. Soundwave’s voice had always been quiet, smooth, and the exact opposite of what it always sounded like when his vocoder was activated. “Fine, at least physically as far as Knock Out’s concerned. He was concerned about the dust they might have inhaled. I’m more concerned about the whole experience they’ve had to go through so far. When the shock finally wears off, I think we’ll have some work cut out for us then.”

Soundwave nodded, both of them staring at the little ones on Megatron’s lap for a klik. “How long until your brats get back here and you have to leave me?”

Soundwave let out an amused huff and smiled at his silver conjunx. “At least two cycles, four at the most. And you know only Rumble and Frenzy are the brats, the others are fine.”

Megatron snorted, but nuzzled into the other’s neck. His engines gave a pleased rumble before he nipped at Soundwave’s neck cabling, earning a quiet gasp. “They all interrupt us though.”

That got a soft chuckle out of the purple mech. “And who just adopted twin sparklings that will be completely dependent on him for at least another 30 vorn, probably more because of their size?”

“At least they are cute. And so far, they’ve behaved excellently for Knock Out and myself.” Megatron relaxed in the following silence for a breem, ignoring the question in his mate's field. It didn't take long before the slim mech looked over his shoulder at his lover with a raised optical ridge. Megatron ex-vented heavily before answering his mate’s unasked question. “Yes, I gave them a choice if they wanted to stay with us. Knock Out demanded I ask what they wanted rather vehemently even though I had been planning on asking them without his intervention. They want to know what happened to their Creators. More specifically, why their Creators tried to separate them from one another and when they failed that, they were abandoned. I told them you would look into it for them. For now, they wish to remain with us, as you can probably tell.”

He continued to rub at Soundwave’s plating as he looked down at the two mechlings clinging to his armor. Soundwave had picked up on the slightly angry glyphs Megatron used when he talked of the sparklings Creators. He let out a slightly strangled noise and thought over what he wanted to ask. “You have an idea of why they were left, don’t you.” It was a statement and the violet mech’s voice was quieter, more harsh than it usually was. His field flickered angrily before he drew it back in and gained control over it once more.

“I hate to say it, and Knock Out will have to do a few deep scans at a later time to confirm my suspicions unless you can find their medical records. There is the chance that the scans were never done, but I think it has something to do with Snowdrift. His brother is very protective of him, as if there is something different, or possibly wrong, with him and he isn’t sure others will treat him well if they found out about it. I simply wish to protect them even if they get on my nerves at times or if they are not what they seemed to be at first glance. They are just sparklings after all and they can’t be perfectly behaved all the time.”

The smile Soundwave sent his lover warmed his spark and spread throughout his entire frame, radiating in his field. “I knew there was a good reason I bonded with you, Megatron, and while I am glad for everything you’ve told me, that isn’t what I was asking you. We both know you’re avoiding it, as you’ve avoided it since before we bonded.” Soundwave shifted slightly so he could look into Megatron’s pained optics. “We need to talk about this. My frame isn’t capable of carrying a sparkling and you can’t carry and lead the Decepticons at the same time. Is that you’re only reason for taking these two in? Because we can’t create our own?”

Soundwave’s voice hitched painfully at the reminder of what they could never have and Megatron felt his spark constrict painfully in his chest. “Yes and no. Please let me explain, Soundwave. When I first saw them I thought they were dead and when I saw they were still alive and fighting to stay alive, I couldn’t just leave them there to deactivate. It wasn’t until I got to the med bay that I began to want them. I hadn’t even thought about what I was going to do with two sparklings until I brought them to Knock Out. But once here, I couldn’t stop thinking about how they were abandoned in a war torn city and who would be better than us to protect them and keep them safe? It just made sense. We’ve wanted sparklings since before we even bonded and I knew we would likely never create our own. They had no one and we wanted one of our own, whether or not they end up normal. We can hardly be considered normal ourselves. I know I should’ve discussed this with you first, but-” he stopped talking and stared at his mate’s shaking shoulders, huffing in amusement as a grin spread across his faceplates.

He leaned down and bit Soundwave’s neck cables, earning a startled and pleased gasp. He was rewarded with a quiet moan when he ran his glossa over the bite mark. The violet mech let out a shaky huff before giving his silver mate a look. “I hope you aren’t planning on starting something when you have two Sparklings recharging on your lap.”

“Really? After you let me go on and on trying to talk you into something and apologize at the same time for no reason? I think I deserve something after being teased by you.”

Soundwave made a noncommittal noise, settling against the other’s chest. He reached out and ran a slow servo over the mechlings' backs before shutting off his optics and nuzzling into Megatron’s chest. “Perhaps we should follow their example then so you don’t embarrass yourself further.”

“Fine, if you insist.” With a huff, Megatron settled them on the berth before slipping into recharge.


	5. Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sparklings get to learn something new and they aren't sure they like it or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a little late... I've been busy and the internet at my house isn't fixed yet :(  
> I've also now caught up to everything I have typed up so it might take a little longer to update, but I'm going to try to update once a week, probably on a Friday or Saturday.  
> Also, if you feel like it leave some feedback too, I always like knowing where I can improve my writing.

Soundwave’s internal Chronometer woke him up two cycles later. With a groan, the Third in Command sat up and began checking his messages. He couldn’t help the frustrated groan at the number and how much had built up after only taking a few cycles off. It should’ve been expected, but it still bothered him. He heard Megatron chuckle next to him and shot his mate a withering glare.

“Apparently, the Decepticons cannot function without you for very long, love.” Megatron said with a grin, guessing at what had his mate in a sour mood so soon after waking.

Another message pinged on his HUD, which was from Ravage letting the host mech know his symbiotes were about to return to him. “I have to return to work. My symbiotes are finished with their missions and are about to return as well and I’d rather not have them all rush in here and wake them.” 

Both mech’s attention was drawn down to look at the still recharging sparklings. Soundwave reached out and brushed his fingers over each of their helms. He couldn’t help the smile that formed at watching them before he looked up at his lover and smiled even brighter. Megatron gave him a quick peck on the lips before the slim mech stood from the berth and stretched his back. He grabbed his visor, sliding it back in place as a data cable extended and connected with the monitor. When he finished undoing what he’d done earlier, he turned back to the warlord on the berth and gave a slight bow of his helm.

The silver mech huffed but grinned at the slim mech. “Have fun with your own brats, love.”

“I should send Rumble and Frenzy in here as soon as they get back.” Soundwave retorted in his normal voice before turning on the vocoder.

“Please don’t. Knock Out will be furious if you do and we will never hear the end of it. That medic can be so temperamental at times.”

“Affirmative.” He responded with an activated vocoder. Megatron just huffed at the other and waved him off. Soundwave left quickly, already responding to multiple messages at once from the number that had accumulated during his short recharge as he headed toward his main console.

Megatron watched him leave before looking back down at his new charges, wondering how much longer it would be until they woke up. Knock Out had never mentioned how long they would need to recharge nor how often they would need to. He checked over all of his missed messages and anything else that looked like it needed his attention without requiring him to get up and leave the med bay to attend to them. There were a few messages from Starscream, but they were just updates on various things and nothing that required his immediate attention.

Snowdrift shifted suddenly in his recharge, nearly rolling off of Megatron’s lap before the mech’s hand could steady him in place. His armor started shifting and ruffling up, especially around his vents. Megatron cocked his head slightly, giving the fussing sparkling a curious look. He was sure he knew this behavior from somewhere, but he just couldn’t place it. 

The white sparkling’s optics onlined and he let out a slightly strained wheezing noise, which pulled his sibling out of his recharge cycle. Seacrystal gave his twin a strange look, noting the fluffed up plating and curious what his brother was upset over this time. Megatron had a sudden feeling he knew where this was going and made sure he had a firm hold on both sparklings, careful to leave Snowdrift’s vents alone. A loud whoosh of air shot from the tiny mechling followed by rattling armor. He looked up at the large mech, icy blue optics wide and startled while Seacrystal started at his brother with the same expression.

Megatron couldn’t help the startled laugh that escaped him. He grinned at the mechlings in his lap. “Well then, I guess Knock Out doesn’t have to worry about any of the dust you might have inhaled having any negative affects on you in the future, Snowdrift.”

“That was normal?” Snowdrift asked with wide optics, trying to resettle his plating but most of it was stuck puffed out.

“Yes, it is definitely normal for any mech or femme to expel air from their vents after inhaling something that irritates their systems. For you two, it’ll be all the dust, ash, and whatever else was floating around in the air from when the city was bombed.

Snowdrift was looking at his slowly settling armor with awed optics while Seacrystal carefully unattached himself from Megatron’s armor. He hadn’t even been aware of latching onto the large mech’s chassis. “Will that happen to me too?” He asked out of curiosity.

“It’s very likely to happen. I don’t know when it will happen, but it hopefully will. It’s perfectly normal even if it can be annoying and inconvenient at times.”

“You’ve done that air expelling thing too?” The white sparkling asked. He had perked up and his field flickered excitedly.

“I have. Every Cybertronian has at some point in their functioning; although each mech is different in what bothers them enough for them to sneeze.”

“It’s strange.” Seacrystal muttered and stretched out a servo to help settle his brother’s armor, which was still puffed out.

“At least he only did it once. Knock Out tends to sneeze three to five times before his systems register everything is fine with his vents. It is amusing to see him walking around sneezing continuously for almost a full klik. Some of his armor even flies off if he has a particularly bad fit.” The silver mech laughed quietly at the wide-optic look on their faces. It was a mix of horror and awe.

“Does it happen often?” The dark blue mechling asked, still brushing his brother’s armor back into it’s usual place.

“Not usually. Are you two hungry at all?”

Both perked up at the mention of refueling, antennae and audial fins flicking up happily as they each responded with a loud, excited “yes!” Megatron grinned at them, pulling the two cubes out of his subspace that Knock Out had given him earlier. They each took their cubes and started drinking the thick liquid quickly.

“Slowly, there’s no need to rush. We have plenty of energon here.” Both nodded and slowed down, shifting into more comfortable spots on the berth next to each other and Megatron. When they had finally finished, Megatron took the cubes from them and set them on the side table. “How’s your leg feeling, Seacrystal?”

“It’s still fine.” He muttered and stretched his leg out a bit to look at the dark grey splint.

“How long do we have to stay in here?” Snowdrift asked with a slight whine in his voice.

“Until Knock Out releases you two, then we’ll all move into mine and Soundwave’s rooms.”

“How long will that be?” He whined even more and dropped his aduial fins before looking up at Megatron with wide optics.

“Hopefully it won’t be much longer, little one. I am eager to get you both settled into your new home.”

“But how long!” The little mechling’s field flickered angrily and his brother reach out a servo to rub at the other’s ruffled plating. He even attempted to shush his brother, but the white sparkling swatted at him. Seacrystal’s field pulsed unhappily back as they glared at each other.

“Easy, both of you.” The Warlord soothed them, thinking of how Lazerbeak and Buzzsaw tended to fight over their perches and how Soundwave managed to calm them down. “There is no reason to get angry at each other. It’s not going to solve anything. I don’t know when Knock Out will be back, nor when he will release you both, but he’s a very busy mech. He had to leave four cycles ago due to an emergency. I don’t know how much longer it will take him, his assistant, and our other medic to take care of the issue. I’m not even sure what kind of emergency it is, but he’ll probably be out for at least another cycle, possibly longer. I know he wants you both to rest as much as possible and to recharge, I’m sure if you do recharge until he gets back he’ll release you much sooner.”

“But I don’t want to recharge!” Snowdrift shouted angrily.

“Quiet Snow,” Seacrystal tried to hush his sibling. His field was suddenly filled with an intense wave of worry. Megatron let out a quiet ex-vent as the two argued with each other using their fields and angry sparkling chirping. The dark blue mechling continued to get more and more worried and upset while his twin got even more frustrated and angry. Megatron watched them for a moment more, waiting to see if they would figure it out themselves before deciding to intervene.

“It’s alright, both of you just need to calm down. Snowdrift, there is no reason nor need for you to yell when you want to do or not do something. All you have to do is ask nicely or let me know when you don’t want to do something. Talking is very important and I’d like to know if something is bothering you. And Seacrystal, you don’t need to always try to control your brother. You can give him suggestions or try to help him, but he is his own mech and it’ll only make things more difficult for both of you in the long run.” 

He waited until both nodded slowly in understanding and agreement. Their fields slowly reached out and brushed against his and each other’s apologetically. He smiled gently at them. “Now, if both of you aren’t ready for recharge yet, I can always tell you an old story until you are?”

Both visibly perked up at that with an excited ‘yes!’ each. Megatron grinned and was glad he had to deal with fussy, easily pissed off Seekers daily, and that wasn’t even including Starscream. It also helped having practice with all of Soundwave’s symbiotes too. The sparklings settled against each other in front of him, looking up expectantly at the silver mech. He grinned and started his story.


	6. Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Snowdrift and Seacrystal learn a little bit about their new caretakers while waiting to be released from medbay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this is so late. This chapter really fought me for some reason, but the plus side to that is it turned out a lot longer than I had originally planned it to be.  
> The other chapters should be coming out fast this month too since it's once again Camp NaNoWriMo and I'm using this fic for it.  
> Let me know what you guys thought of it in the comments and let me know if there are any mistakes in it too :3

Knock Out dragged his pedes back to his Medical Bay. The entire day had been too long and busy for his liking. Between their retreat and a failed mission a trine of Seekers had, Knock Out and Hook had both been run ragged. That wasn’t even including the arrival of two tiny sparklings.

The thought of Snowdrift and Seacrystal made the red mech perk up a bit, walking a little faster to get to his med bay sooner. Breakdown, Hook, and a few of the other assistants were still working and likely would be for a few more cycles at least. Medics were always needed and it always seemed as if more work was always being added to Knock Out. He was excited to see how the twins were doing since sparklings had been rare even before the war and then get some much needed recharge after checking on them.

He was expecting to see the sparklings in recharge or at least drinking the energon he’d left with Megatron, but he hadn’t ever expected the adorable scene he walked into. And who in their right processors would’ve put adorable and Megatron in the same sentence?

Seacrystal and Snowdrift were sitting side by side, staring raptly at Megatron who was standing next to their berth gesturing over dramatically and acting out part of the ancient story he was telling them. Knock Out could only grin at the whole scene and quietly sat down next to one of the monitors to watch and listen. So far, he’d gone unnoticed by the sparklings and if Megatron had noticed him, the silver mech gave no indication he realized the medic was there.

“With a roar, the Predacon lunged at the knight. Solarflare dove out of its way, rolling onto his feet as he swung his great sword at the beast’s throat. His sword easily cut through the dragon’s armor, spilling its energon onto the ground. Turning quickly, he lunged back at the beast and plunged his sword right into its spark chamber, extinguishing it.” Megatron paused and smirked at the twins.

“What happened next?” Snowdrift demanded. “Did he get the treasure back?”

“Of course he got the treasure back since the Predacon was slain and no longer able to guard its great hoard. With his quest completed he was also able to return to his home as a hero and respected warrior.”

Knock Out couldn’t help but smile at the obvious changes the Warlord had made to the old story. When he’d heard the story as a mechling, Solarflare had not been a knight, but a lowly servant who wanted to impress some king or noble and went off to kill a Predacon that was known for terrorizing the kingdom, or whatever. Solarflare hadn’t even killed the beast, instead he tricked and manipulated the dumb beast into giving him a powerful relic, which changed each time he heard it, in exchange for a dull stone the mech told him would grant the dragon an impenetrable hide. When he returned to the palace, he was labeled a traitor for abandoning his job and then tossed into space and eaten by a giant space monster.

“Excellent tale, Lord Megatron.” He said and smirked at the way the sparklings jumped and looked over their shoulders at him.

“I’m glad you liked it, Knock Out.”

“I hope you two recharged well?” He asked as he stood up and made his way over to them.

“Can we leave now?” Snowdrift whined at Megatron with wide, pleading optics. Knock Out sent the larger mech a questioning look and had to keep himself from laughing at the look on the silver mech’s face. The sparklings hadn’t even been around for a day yet and Megatron was already losing to their pleading looks. The medic received a short message stating that they would discuss the whole thing later when they had more time and the twins weren’t with them.

“I don’t know, you’ll have to ask Knock Out.”

“Can we?” The white sparkling  asked, turning that pleading wide opticked look on the red medic. He suddenly understood Megatron’s dilemma with saying no.

“I have to check you both over first and then we’ll see. As long as you recharge a lot and refuel regularly, I don’t see any reason for you two to stay here any longer than you have to. This is still a medical bay after all, even if it’s only used by the high ranking officers and tends to be empty most days.”

“But I don’t want to recharge right now!” Knock Out raised an optic ridge at the outburst that was quickly shushed by Seacrystal.

::I think I understand now.:: Knock Out said over a private comm. to Megatron.

“Why don’t you want to recharge Snowdrift?” He asked while pulling out his scanner and turning it on.

“ ‘m not tired.” He huffed and glared at the scanner as the medic pointed it at him.

::What do you understand now, Knock Out?:: The silver mech asked over the comm. link.

“Perhaps you should have Megatron tell you another story. One a little bit more fitting for the two of you and one that also has more relevance to our great Leader.” The Warlord gave the medic a look.

“Will you please tell us another?” The blue sparkling asked hopefully.

“Of course little one. Since you brought it up, Knock Out, I assume you have an idea?”

::He doesn’t like hospitals, or anything like them. He was even glaring at my scanner. Also, did he sneeze earlier?:: Knock Out gave Megatron a wicked grin and responded out loud. “Why not tell them the story of how you met your Conjunx and how you two ended up together?”

The looked he received would’ve sent any sane mech, Starscream included, running for their lives, but Knock Out just grinned wider. “I don’t think that’s the best story to be telling younglings, Knock Out.”

“Why not? They’ll want to know eventually since you share a hab suite together.”

::I see, that makes sense. He did seem a little nervous about being in here a lone earlier. I had figured it had more to do with them being abandoned, but perhaps it has more to do with his dislike of medical facilities. And yes he did. I had to explain the whole thing to them too.:: The mech just huffed at the weak explanation and glared at the red medic. “Keep talking and your requisition for that high end wax and polish will be rebuked.”

The red mech gasped and glared at Megatron. “You wouldn’t dare.”

A smirk spread across his face. “I just might, doctor.”

Knock Out just huffed and looked over the results on his scanner, muttering under his breath. He went over to one of the storage cabinets and pulled out two small cubes. He handed them to Megatron as he walked past the medical berth on his way to the far side of the med bay and the energon storage closet. Knock Out pulled out six cubes of Medical grade energon before walking back to the silver mech.

“I want them to refuel at least three times a solar cycle with at least two cycles between each fueling. Use the small cubes I gave you and they can have full rations starting tomorrow morning. Oh, and I want them to have limited contact with other Cybertronians for now. Soundwave and his symbiotes are fine and I guess Starscream is as well on the off chance you actually have to meet with him. Seacrystal should sneeze within the next few cycles, hopefully. If not, contact me and we will talk about it then.” Knock Out explained as he hooked the medical scanner into one of the monitors.

“Thank you Knock Out. Is there anything else or will that be all?”

“That should be everything. I’ll send you a data packet with all of their scans and medical information I can find and put together tomorrow and we will go from there. It might be a good idea to ask Soundwave to clear the hallways between here and your rooms too.”

“Thank you again, Knock Out. We’ll leave in a moment then.” Megatron sent a ping to Soundwave over their private channel.

::What do you need?:: Soundwave responded immediately.

::Knock Out has released Snowdrift and Seacrystal, but he doesn’t want them to be in contact with other ‘Cons for now. Can you clear the halls between the med bay and our hab suite?::

::Consider it done.::

::Thank you love. I’ll see you and your brats later.::

“Can we leave now?” Snowdrift ask and pulled at part of Megatron’s armor.

“Soundwave needs a breem or so to clear the halls for us. Shall I tell you another tale while we wait to leave?”

“Fine,” the white sparkling muttered and sat unhappily next to his sibling.

“Can we hear about how you met you Conjunx?” Seacrystal asked.

Megatron blinked at the innocent look on the sparklings face and then glared at the medic’s back. Knock Out grinned back at him over his shoulder before giving a nonchalant shrug in response. The silver mech released a quiet ex-vent. “I don’t think now’s a good time for that one.”

“Please,” both chorused together.

“Our Creators never bothered to tell us how they met. We want to know.” Seacrystal gave the larger mech a pleading look, optics wide and voice trembling as he asked.

Megatron was the feared leader of the Decepticons and one of the most fearsome and terrifying Gladiators, but he only managed to resist the pleading looks for a few kliks before giving into their request. He silently cursed Knock Out for mentioning his and Soundwave’s first meeting. “Fine, fine, I’ll tell you how Soundwave and I met. I was a gladiator in the Pits of Kaon, one of the best there was. I had never lost a match in all the years I’d been fighting and was called the Champion of the Ring. Mecha from all over Cybertron would come to watch my matches and the stands would be packed so full the arena guards had to turn many spectators away.

“There were two types of matches a mech could compete in. One was the Death matches, which were the only fights I was ever a part of. They gathered the most renown and paid the best. The other was the Timed matches and Soundwave was easily at the top of his weight class. The Timed matches were based on how much damage could be done to your opponent in five breems or until your opponent was knocked offline before the allotted time was up.”

“Do they still have matches today?” Snowdrift asked, field pulsing with curiosity.

“No. We are at war right now and fighting for our lives and whatever resources we can get at the moment. Not to mention we still fight for our Cause and against the Senate. It would not make sense to fight amongst ourselves just for the entertainment of watching a match.” Both sparklings nodded in understanding so Megatron continued with his story.

“Now, each gladiator usually had another mech that was their beneficiary or agent, someone that would set up their matches, handle any credits their gladiator won, housing, and pretty much anything else you could think of. Soundwave’s agent approached mine after a match one day and the two set up a Timed match. I wasn’t very happy about it being made at first. Usually gladiators are put into matches with others based on their preferred match type and are in similar weight or frame classes. I had also never heard of Soundwave, but I was able to look up his information and a clip from one of his first matches as a gladiator. I was instantly intrigued by him. There wasn’t, and still isn’t, any other mech like him on Cybertron and I was shocked that such a mech was a gladiator.

“He is really small compared to you.” Snowdrift mumbled.

Megatron chuckled a bit at that. “He is small compared to the majority of ex-gladiators, even back then when he had more and thicker armor. Being small isn’t a bad thing. Many of his opponents thought him an easy fight because he’s small and looked frail, they paid for the price of humiliation underestimating him. The most terrifying thing about Soundwave isn’t his size or strength like many gladiators, but his cunning. Sure his speed and attuned senses definitely help, but they would be useless if not used properly. He can tell how injured a mech is just by listening to the way they move or how nervous they are based solely on stuttering fans. He also has many secret abilities that give him an edge; although he used every single one in our fight.

“Our agents made it so our fight sounded like the biggest fight of the vorn, and if I’m being completely honest it was. The stands were so packed there wasn’t even standing room and the various booths for nobles and standing areas around the outer part of the ring for gladiators and anyone else weren’t any better. The crowd was cheering for us before our match had even been announced and they only got louder when it was finally called and we each walked into the arena. I remember the light glinting off of Soundwave’s armor and wondering how such a slim, tiny mech had made it as a gladiator. I’ll admit I underestimated him. He’s a very fierce fighter, strong and swift and he _always_ uses any advantages that present themselves to him.

“He used every trick, ability, and weapon he had against me and I held nothing back after the first strike he got in. There were a few times I was sure he would defeat me in those first few kliks as he darted in and out of my range, scoring hit after hit. My stubbornness and desire to win kept me from even thinking about any other outcome than winning, but it was, and still is, one of the toughest fights I’ve ever been in. Soundwave is even more dangerous when he feels he’s threatened or backed into a corner. It’s something I learned the hard way in our fight when I finally managed to grab him. I thought it would be so easy to crush such a thin frame and I finally had a chance to beat him now that he was pinned against my chest and couldn’t run away. One of Soundwave’s solely unique abilities is his control over sound. He shrieked right into-”

“Wait, how can a scream hurt someone? Especially someone like you? That’s a terrible ability and I doubt it works.” Snowdrift interrupted and frowned. His twin elbowed his side and gave him an annoyed look.

“Let him tell the story Snow.”

“Fine, but it still seems stupid,” the sparkling muttered before settling down again. Megatron would’ve agreed with the little one had he not been on the receiving end of his mate’s most debilitating and destructive ability. He’d also seen the silent mech use it a lot in various skirmishes and even scouting missions that went awry.

“From a distance it’s not as effective; although it’s still devastating to some effect. When he does it right into your audial receptor? It knocked me offline for a nano klik, completely blew that audial, and severely damaged the other one. When I came back online, my frame had completely locked up and fallen over. Soundwave was still pinned against my chest and I was trying to think through the haze of pain and fear over not being able to hear enough to come up with a new plan. It was then that Soundwave unleashed another of his tricks on me. Both of his data cables shot from their compartments on his chest.”

“Wait, what’s a data cable?” Seacrystal asked with his helm cocked to the side. Snowdrift elbowed him and gave him a look. “What? You’re curious about it too.”

Megatron chuckled at them. “As far as I know, Soundwave is the only mech alive, the only mech to have ever lived, who has them. They aren’t very thick, but are much stronger than they look and relatively long. He usually uses them to jack into terminals or monitors. No one really knows the full extent of his abilities with hacking, surveillance, and data gathering. Most just assume Soundwave is always watching and listening. In combat, he can release jolts of electricity through them into his opponent, turn the ends into drills to get through armor, and they’re strong enough to lift and throw a mech of my size around.

“I had enough time to realize that being close to Soundwave was even more dangerous than being at a distance from him and was probably a terrible idea. My reactions had been slowed by Soundwave’s previous attack. By the time I realized I needed to get him away from me, his cables were already looking for transformation seams. I had enough time to grab him before one found a seam and sent a powerful jolt into my protoform while the other tried to pry off a part of my armor. I threw him off of my frame when he sent another, stronger jolt into me.

“Soundwave doesn’t give up easily and his cable was still embedded in my side sending stronger and stronger jolts into me. I could barely think straight, but the instincts that never failed to keep me alive told me to stop the electricity surging through my frame and frying my circuitry immediately. For as strong as his cables are, they’re easily crushed and damageable, not to mention extremely sensitive. It was almost too easy to crush the end of his cable and rip it out of my seam. The pain was so strong that his entire frame froze up and he emitted a static laced cry. I was finally able to stand up and regain a little some of my bearings. Soundwave’s other cable and retreated closer to his body and I wasn’t about to let him come up with some new plan or for him to show me another one of his tricks to defeat me. I was still holding onto his crushed cable and used it to yank him back close to me. I got in a few good hits before he recovered from the pain and fought back.

“The fight felt like it had dragged on and on until the timer rang out, declaring the match over. It felt far longer than five breems to both of us. Even now I wonder what would’ve happened if we had more time or if there hadn’t been a time limit and it had been a death match. Both of us were injured, covered in cuts, scrapes, and dents. I was even missing a chunk of external armor on my shoulder thanks to one of Soundwave’s cable drills.

“The judges came down into the arena with two medics, one for each of us, and scanners to see which of us was the least damaged and thus the winner. After they completed their scans they walked to the judges to go over all of the data and compare it to the pre fight scans they had. I remember standing next to Soundwave as the judges and medics started to argue and yell at each other; although the noise from the stands was far too loud to hear anything, even for Soundwave. A few kliks passed before the five mechs figured everything out and the eldest of the judges stepped forward. He waved his servos at the crowd to quiet them down so he could announce the winner. Once the crowd was hushed he cleared his intake before speaking in a clear, strong voice: “After viewing the scans in great detail, we would like to declare that the match has ended in a tie.”

“What!?” Both sparklings yelled, optics wide and mouths open in shock.

The silver mech smirked down at them, barely suppressing a laugh at the looks on their faces. “I was just as shocked as you two are. I wasn’t the only one either. Soundwave and everyone else watching were as well. It was the first time in my entire functioning that I hadn’t won a match. I wanted to be angry, but all I could do was be impressed by Soundwave’s strength and cunning.”

“How did you and Soundwave become friends if you met while fighting each other?” Seacrystal asked and his twin nodded quickly.

Megatron released a loud ex-vent. This was one of the reasons he didn’t want to tell the story. It was hard for younglings to understand the complexities of gladiator courtships even if they had grown up within one of the rings. It wasn’t unheard of for a well off gladiator to take a sparkmate and have sparklings, but it was rare and almost never happened in Kaon.

“Well it wasn’t as if we became friends over night, but that day definitely helped. We would likely have never met otherwise if not for our match. While the matches pit two fighters together, it’s not all bad. It’s a chance for a mech to show off their strength, helps them gain respect from their fellow gladiators. That match showed me how strong Soundwave was and I respected him because of that. It also helped him in his own matches. He was paid more after it.

“It was actually due to his symbiotes that we became friends later on and eventually bonded. There was an old bar many gladiators always went to for drinks and to discuss gossip and other things after the matches or training. It was there that I nearly stepped on two, overcharged minicons. After both of them calmed down enough to stop yelling at me and trying to scold me, I offered to buy them each a round of drinks as an apology. When they realized who they had been yelling at and who bought them drinks they got extremely excited and I could barely get them to stop talking over each other. I ended up sitting with them, especially since it seemed they’d forgotten I almost stepped on them. The later it got, the more overcharged they became to the point they did notice I was switching out their highgrade for lowgrade. When it was finally time to go home, I refused to let them go stumbling off on their own and somehow managed to find out where they lived.

“The apartment complex they lived in was practically falling down and I was so shocked that the main lift was still working. They lived on one of the middle floors in a relatively large corner unit. Both minicons started banging on the door and yelling for their ‘boss’ when they keypad denied them entrance. I was sure what to expect when the door opened, but it definitely wasn’t for Soundwave to open the with an EM field radiating displeasure and a crushing amount of disappointment. I remember the two shutting up instantly before muttering apologies under their breath as they edged around Soundwave to get inside. It was only then that Soundwave noticed I was standing there. We had an exceedingly awkward conversation before I left.”

“That can’t be all there is to it! How did you really become friends?” Snowdrift asked while shifting closer to Megatron again.

“You’re right, that wasn’t all there was. That was just the beginning. After a few Solar Cycles I ended up meeting Soundwave’s two minicons again and invited them to drink with me. This kept happening almost every night I went out for a drink and I eventually found out that they were also fighters and that they trained almost everyday with Soundwave and their three other siblings; although it took decacycles before Soundwave and I actually had a full conversation with each other.

“He kept blaming me for Rumble and Frenzy’s bad behavior until I explained to him how I kept them out of trouble, bar fights, and kept an optic on how much highgrade they’d had. Up until that point in time, no one except for Soundwave had ever looked out for his symbiotes. I offered to spar with them one evening and they told me when and where to met them the next day. I had hoped they would’ve told Soundwave, but they failed to mention I would be joining them. While Soundwave wasn’t very happy about it, he allowed it and I got to meet their siblings. We ended up sparring and training together a lot after that and our relationship evolved and grew from there.”

Megatron watched the two deflate as he told the story until they were sitting on the berth crestfallen by the end. “What’s wrong?” He gently asked them, hoping it had been a misunderstanding and would be easily fixed.

“So you both fight each other a lot?” Snowdrift whispered despondently. Megatron felt like kicking himself as he realized suddenly what was worrying his sparklings. He had hoped his explanation had been thorough enough to avoid this.

“We’ve never really fought or even argued with each other before. Sparring is a way of honing your skills and getting to know someone. It’s a very vital part of gladiator culture and Kaoni culture as a whole. It’s a way of showing how strong you are and of gaining respect from others. Soundwave was very skilled and we never got very injured, accidents sometimes happen after all, but nothing even remotely life threatening. The only time we’ve ever intentionally hurt each other was during our one match. Our sparring with each other and with his symbiotes made us respect each other even more than we already did. Our friendship was an easy one and we only grew closer together as time passed until we began working together. It was Ravage who made some joke about us bonding a couple vorn into our partnership and neither of us could stop thinking about it. We were so close, it only made sense to bond.”

“Oh, okay,” both sparklings went silent. They obviously needed time to absorb all the information and then go over it all. The silver mech didn’t mind letting them figure it all out on their own. He was there if they had questions.

A few more kliks went by before he received a message from his Third. _The halls are all cleared. Ravage is in our rooms and knows about our new sparklings. The others will know soon. -Soundwave_

The silver mech rolled his shoulders and stood up. Both sparklings stared up at with curious optics. “Soundwave just told me we can leave now.”

The words were barely out of his mouth when Snowdrift leapt to his pedes with a blindingly bright smile on his face. “Finally! Let’s go, let’s go!”

“Snow, calm down.” Seacrystal huffed and glared at his twin. He managed to stand up on his own but he swayed in place and glared down at the splint on his leg. It hadn’t been there that long, but it was already getting in his way. He wasn’t sure how he was going to keep up with his over excited twin now.

“Easy little one. It’s a long walk and your brother has a splint on his leg that’ll slow him down a bit. You might have to help him too before he gets used to it.”

Snowdrift pouted and was about to complain about something when Knock Out’s voice called out from the other side of the med bay. “Try not to over do it, you two. Your systems are still under stress even if it doesn’t feel like they are. If you run around too much you  _ will _ overtax your systems and will wind up right back here before your next appointment. And I’d rather that not happen to either of you.” The red medic grinned at the horrified look on Snowdrift’s face.

“Thank you for the warning, Knock Out. When do you want me to bring them back in for their check up?”

“In five solar cycles. I’ll send you an exact time in the data packet tomorrow morning. Breakdown will likely be here too so things can go faster with his assistance and you don’t have to worry about being in here all day.”

“Thank you again, Knock Out.” Megatron carefully picked Seacrystal up and let him settle before picking Snowdrift up, waiting for the white sparkling to settle as well. Once both had settled and latched onto his armor he turned and walked steadily toward the door.

Snowdrift peaked over Megatron’s pauldron and stuck his glossa out at the the medic. Knock Out made a shocked face and grabbed at his spark before grinning widely at the mechling. He stuck his glossa out at him while crossing his optics. The white mechling burst into giggles as the med bay doors closed, turning around in Megatron's arms to face his sibling. The two began chirping excitedly at each other.

The silver mech looked between the two giggling and chirping sparklings, raising an optical ridge at them. “What’s so funny, you two?”

“Knock Out’s face.” Snowdrift squeaked happily. Megatron’s optic ridges raised even more. “Sea got a shot of the face he made at me when I stuck my glossa out at him.”

Both fell into a fit of giggles again and Megatron let out an amused huff. It would seem the twins would get along great with Rumble and Frenzy after all. The only thing Megatron and Soundwave had to worry about now was how much trouble the two sets of twins would get into or create together. The silver mech smiled a bit at the thought. Poor Ravage would end up sparkling-sitting duty soon.

The hallways were empty and quiet thanks to Soundwave and Megatron took a few kliks to enjoy the rare moment of peace. He was used to mechs running down the hallways, shouting and arguing, fights breaking out, and a multitude of other annoyances. It was pleasant and the sparklings in his arms were enjoying it as well. Both were still giggling a little bit over Knock Out’s funny face, but they were also looking around at their surroundings in awe. The complex underneath the Colosseum was vast, intricate, and very old with hallways going from extremely wide to narrow and everything in between.

Even with a lot of things to look at, Seacrystal started to drift off, Megatron’s long, steady gait gently lulling him back into recharge. He yawned widely, tucking his face against Megatron’s neck. Snowdrift fought against his own yawn and rubbed at his optics. The silver mech hummed quietly, the vibrations helping to lull Snowdrift into recharge. Both sparklings nestled closer to him, snuggling against his chassis as he continued his walk to his hab suite.


	7. Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The twins get to meet Ravage and the other symbiotes. Megatron finds a private message from Starscream of all mechs that reveals a little bit about Seeker culture.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So updates will probably start to be a little slower since the chapters keep getting longer...   
> Also the stuff about Seekers is mostly from a few other writers whose works I've read and found interesting and a little bit of my own stuff. It's not that important to the story other than Starscream secretly likes sparklings.  
> Also, leave comments if you see any mistakes or to let me know how you liked it (I haven't edited this...)

Megatron looked at his hab suite door and then back down at the twins recharging against his chest plates. He looked back at the keypad and let out a heavy ex-vent. There was no other way to unlock and open the door except to move or put the sparklings down.

“Seacrystal, Snowdrift,” he said quietly, shifting his hold on them. It had only been a few breems since they’d fallen asleep, but they woke up surprisingly quickly.

“Wha?” Snow mumbled and rubbed at his optics.

“I have to put you both down for now so I can open the door.”

Snowdrift instantly perked up at that while his twin lifted his helm tiredly off of Megatron’s chest. “We’re home now?” Snowdrift asked excitedly.

“Yes and you’ll have to help your brother to stand and walk around at first until he gets used to his cast.” Megatron said and knelt so he could place Snowdrift and then Seacrystal on the ground. The white twin instantly moved closer to support his younger sibling as the Warlord keyed in his code.

The door slide open into a small, plain entry room. The twins walked inside first and looked around at the grey walls and floor before looking up at Megatron as he entered and shut the door. They followed him into a large, open room that was sparsely decorated. Both looked around curiously at the bare living room and kitchen area before looking back up at the silver mech’s face.

“Do you want to explore on your own first or do you want me to show you around before you explore?”

“Can you show us around?” Seacrystal asked before tugging his brother closer to him so he wouldn’t fall over. He could barely feel his pede thanks to whatever pain blocker the medic had given him earlier.

“Of course, afterwards you can explore as much as you want. This is the main living area,” he said as he waved a servo between the kitchen and open living room before walking toward the hallway on the far side of the room. “You can go anywhere you please in here and into any of the rooms. If a door is closed knock first and wait until you have permission to enter. Some of the doors may be locked depending on who’s here and who’s not, so don’t be too shocked about that. There’s also a holo screen in mine and Soundwave’s room you can use during the day if you want.”

The twins followed him down the wide hall lined with closed doors on either side. The hall wasn’t very long and ended with another closed door. “What’s in all these rooms?” Snowdrift asked as they passed the last two rooms.

Megatron paused and turned back to them. “The first door on the left is a small, personal library, across from it is an office, the second door on the left is a storage closet, and the last door on the right is Soundwave’s symbiotes berthroom. Then we have mine and Soundwave’s berthroom and the wash racks.”

He turned back to the last door and keyed it open, standing out of the way so the twins could walk inside first. The room was huge and it took Snowdrift and Seacrystal a few kliks to get over the initial shock of how big the room actually was. Snow was pretty sure the room was bigger than their old home had been. When the shock wore off they both rushed forward as swiftly as they could with Sea’s leg still in a splint. Megatron followed them into the room and didn’t bother to hide the happy smile on his face or the joyful flare of his field as  _ his _ sparklings chirped excitedly at each other. His venting hitched at the thought.  _ His,  _ they were really his. He finally had the sparklings he’d always wanted and he was still trying to wrap his processors around it all.

The sparklings had wandered around most of the room, pausing to chirp back and forth rapidly over the random pillow under a vent and the strange perches and poles sticking out of the walls. They’d ignored the console, table, chairs, and even the holo screen just so they could look at the curious things closer, trying to figure out what they were supposed to be or what their function was. At least that’s what the Decepticon leader thought they were talking about since they were communicating in their strange sparkling gibberish. A few kliks passed before they gave up or settled on their theories of what the perches were for and continued their exploration of the room.

They wandered over to the berth, looked at each other then back at Megatron then back at the berth. It was the largest berth they had ever seen before, but it did make sense. The silver mech was huge and he shared the room with his spark mate after all.

Snowdrift walked up to it, looking for a way to climb up onto it when a shadow fell over him. Seacrystal let out a startled squeak when something black and sleek leaned over the edge of the berth right over his twin. The white sparkling looked up and quickly stumbled back away from the berth with his own startled squeak. The shadow moved, leaping over the sparkling and landing silently on its paws behind them. The feline looked over her shoulder at them, tail flicking lazily as she turned around to look at the new additions to her family properly.

The white and icy blue sparkling had gone back to standing next to his sibling and Ravage took the chance to look them both over. White plating with light blue accents and biolights stood out against the dark blue plating, silver accents, and golden biolights of his twin. Their audial fins were still mostly stubs, but Ravage figured the narrow, slightly curved protrusions on would grow longer and more angular as the twins aged. It was a little strange that Seacrystal had two sets of audials, a larger set with a more pronounced curve and then smaller fins just underneath them, which were still short and stubby.

Ravage sat and cocked her head at the mechlings before looking over at a smirking Warlord. Her ear twitched toward the mechlings as they shuffled closer, but she never took her optics off of Megatron.

“Soundwave told me how this happened,” the cybercat said calmly and refused to let her grin show when the twins jumped in surprise.

Both of their optics were huge and round. “Cybercats can’t talk!” Snowdrift exclaimed.

“I’m not exactly a cybercat, even though I look like one,” she responded, finally looking over at them. “I’m Soundwave’s oldest symbiot, Ravage.”

“That’s so cool!” Snowdrift exclaimed, grinning widely and bouncing on his pedes. Seacrystal nodded excitedly in agreement. “Do you transform into anything? You’d be a really tiny car.”

Ravage snorted in laughter at the white sparkling’s response and grinned at them. “Not exactly, I don’t transform into anything like a normal mech does. Symbiotes have to connect to their hosts systems and when we dock with Soundwave to recharge properly and share information, we transform into parts of his armor. I make up the plating on his back while my siblings form his chest and shoulder armor.”

“That’s weird.”

“Snow! Don’t be rude to Ravage.” Seacrystal scolded his twin who responded with a careless shrug.

“It is weird for those who’ve never heard of or seen us before. Symbiotes and our carriers or hosts are extremely rare. It has to do with the type of spark Soundwave was forged with and its ability to split into new smaller, fully formed sparks; although we still need to be near our host every once in awhile to dock with them. As far as we know, there’s only one other mech alive right now who has a similar spark as Soundwave, and that there have been only a servo full of others throughout Cybertron’s history.”

“Wait,” the white mechling looked between Ravage and Megatron before pointing an accusatory finger at the silver mech. “You said that Soundwave was unlike any other mech to have ever lived and she says there’s one mech alive right now like him and there were probably others.”

Ravage snorted, gaining the sparklings’ attentions again. “Soundwave is a one of a kind mech. I only said they have a similar type of spark. This other mech, Blaster, has symbiotes as well and the ability to split his spark when it’s ready to, but other than that they are completely different mechs. Blaster is pretty normal aside from having four symbiotes.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense,” he mumbled.

“So, where are they going to recharge from now on?” Ravage asked after a few kliks, turning back to Megatron.

The silver mech froze and stared at the black cybercat. “What?” He hadn’t thought that far ahead yet. In fact, he hadn’t thought very far passed getting Knock Out to look them over, fix them up, and then take them home. He could have at least had someone prepare one of the rooms while they were still in the med bay.

“Figures,” the feline muttered and leveled an unamused glare at the silver Warlord. “I guess they can stay with you and the Boss for a few nights, but they’ll need their own room sooner rather than later. It should be relatively easy to remodel your private office into a temporary berthroom or even a permanent one, since you use it so rarely.”

Megatron thought it over for a moment before nodding thoughtfully. “That should work for now, at least until we can figure out something better.” He looked over at the twins. “That is, if both of you are okay with this plan?”

They both nodded quickly, EM fields flickering excitedly. After they’d been deemed old enough to be on their own for an entire night cycle, their Creators had refused to let them inside their berthroom. They couldn’t even remember the last time they’d been allowed to sleep with their Creators.

“Well, that’s settled then. Do you want to explore your new home a little more thoroughly with me?” Ravage asked and stood up to stretch out her back.

“Yes!” Both exclaimed and followed Ravage out of the room as quickly as they could.

Megatron chuckled at their enthusiasm and went to follow them, but paused when he noticed there was a private message on his console. He knew it wasn’t that important if it had been sent to his personal console and not his comm link. Even knowing that he was still very curious about what it could be. The twins would be perfectly fine with Ravage watching over them for a few breems while he checked the message.

He was shocked to that it was from Starscream of all mechs. His Second never sent him private messages and he also never left the subject line blank like he did this time. It was strange and very unlike his Second, but he didn’t linger on that. He opened the message, expecting to see some type of complaint and was shocked at what he found instead.

 

_ Megatron, _

_ I know you won’t get this until the sparklings are released from Knock Out’s care, but it’s not like this message is that urgent even if I want it to be. I know you and even Soundwave will need help with the twins. Sparklings are very different than symbiotes in certain regards and I would be more than willing to help you with them, my trine mates would be as well. _

_ There is a lot about Seekers that you don’t know and that is mainly my fault for not sharing my culture with you and for not pointing out things that you’ve wrongly assumed were true and are not. I will get to those at a later point in time though as my main concern is with the twins. I was able to convince Soundwave (after a lot of prodding and annoying him) to tell me what you were planning on doing with them and if you had not taken them I would have. It is nearly impossible for many Seekers to ignore a sparkling even if they are with their Creators or caretakers, but for Seekers such as myself it  _ **_is_ ** _ impossible to ignore them, especially if they are injured and abandoned like the two you found. _

_ Sparklings are rare, even during peace and these last few vorns have been bad for many, especially for us Seekers. It takes a trine among other things just for a Seeker to even think about carrying and the number of Seekerlings that have been created has dropped to nothing. I don’t know if it changes between city states for you grounders, but to Seekers and Vosian culture, sparklings are practically sacred and protected at all cost by everyone. _

_ I hope you aren’t going to hide them away for long, this damn coding has resurfaced and I have a feeling the other Seekers here will eventually sense what’s going on within my trine.When they do it won’t just be the Command Trine affected by this old coding. Every true Seeker around us will also be affected by it. And by true Seekers, I mean the fliers that were sparked by a trine and have the core coding of a Seeker and not those that were forged. It can be controlled to some extent; although the urges caused by the coding will still be there and hard to ignore, it’ll be easier to ignore by being around your two sparklings. It’ll be even better if we are allowed to care for them. _

_ Trust me when I tell you, you don’t want a bunch of Seekers trying to nest all at the same time. Nests require a lot of metal and even more soft materials, not to mention a stockpile of energon and at least one member of the trine guarding the nest at all times. _

_ I probably should’ve told some of this much earlier, probably shortly after we first met, but I guess late is better than never. Trines aren’t made up of three random Seekers or even Seekers who are compatible with each other; although compatibility is still important it isn’t the most important thing for a trine. Each member of a trine is picked carefully and tested in various ways by each other to see if they will work well with the other members in their trine. In my case, Thundercracker and Skywarp were already trined with each other and needed a third member. While TC’s and my personalities clashed, Skywarp has always been able to calm the two of us down. _

_ There is one other factor in making a trine, the most important factor. Seekers are always split into three very distinct categories that are all needed to make a trine. The Order, leaders of the trine and guardians of the nest; the Action, hunters and aggressive protectors of their trine members; and the Vision, intellects of scientists that stay near the nest and are Carriers for the trines sparklings. _

_ When we first met, you wrongly assumed I was the leader, the Order, of my trine and none of us bothered to correct you. I can understand all too well why you mistook me for the leader, but I’m not, I’m my trine’s Vision. I know how I can be at times, and it’s not at all like how a Vision is supposed to act, but my trinemates put up with it in public. Thundercracker is my Order and has allowed me to lead not only our trine, but every other Seeker in the Decepticon army simply because it is easier for him. He knows I would complain ceaselessly if I wasn’t in charge of something. It used to just bother TC, but now our fighting has started to affect even Skywarp and I’m not sure how we’ve managed to not kill each other so far. Seeing your sparklings has awoken that old coding, Vision coding, that I had thought I’d buried deep enough vorns ago. _

_ But enough of that, I wrote this simply to ask after your new sparklings. I do hope you’ll allow my trine, or at least myself, to aid you with them. Being around other mechs if very important for young, developing Cybertronians and being around them will also help me with this absurd coding. Give them a few days to settle and become used to you, Soundwave, and his symbiotes before even thinking of introducing them to other mechs. You’ll also want to make sure you have plenty of things to keep them entertained. A bored sparkling is one that gets into unspeakable amounts of trouble and mischief. _

_ -Starscream _

 

Megatron blinked at the long, complex message his Second had sent him. There was almost too much new information for him to comprehend in such a short amount of time, but at least Starscream had given him only the basics of a few key points of Seeker culture. It could’ve been much worse, but it seemed that his Second knew him well enough to not overwhelm him with too much information at once.

The silver mech did feel bad for not asking to know more about Vos and its complex culture now, but it wasn’t possible for him to go back in time and ask all those questions he’d had. Besides, he could still try to make up for all those vorns of ignoring the strongest part of his army and ask Starscream about his home. 

He was still trying to get his processor to understand the way Seekers categorized themselves and where Starscream fit into it all. He knew the Seeker had left out a lot and had only glossed over the most important part of it very vaguely. He had to wonder if he was a part of the reason the grey mech acted the way he did. It would seem Megatron had really misread Starscream when they first met all those vorns ago in Kaon’s underground city at the beginning of the Decepticon movement. In his defense though, the slim, bright grey Seeker had been pushy, bossy, straightforward, blunt, rude, arrogant, and hadn’t let Thundercracker or Skywarp speak very much at all. Starscream had also been the one who wanted to speak with Megatron, not his other trinemates. It was almost impossible to imagine his snappy, arrogant Second as a Carrier, he lacked pretty much everything a mech needed to raise a sparkling.

The mech was probably only this sane still thanks to his trine and his strong personality. Megatron knew nothing good came of fighting against one's coding. He began to wonder about this coding Starscream had mentioned and just how bad it could potentially get. There were nearly a thousand trines within the Decepticon ranks, but luckily only around twenty trines were ever in Kaon at one time unless there was something extremely important going on. Most were still in Vos or stationed throughout their territory, which currently covered about half of the plant at this point in time. Aside from Starscream and his trine, there were only two other trines staying in the Command Center; although the numbers could be wrong now after they lost a few minor cities and a number of missions had been completed since he’d returned with Snowdrift and Seacrystal.

The thought of his sparklings stopped that thought process and he was suddenly focused on the real purpose of his Second’s private message. While he didn’t trust the Seeker, he couldn’t help but wonder what he would be like around the twins. Sparklings were precious, even in Kaon where they were rare, and he believed what Starscream had claimed about them being practically sacred in Vos. It made sense if trines were formed in such a specific way just to protect a carrier. He doubted it would do too much damage to allow Starscream and his trinemates to help him with the twins.

He realized suddenly that he had nothing to keep them entertained. He had no datapads with stories that would be appropriate for sparklings to read. Were there even stories specifically for sparklings or young mechlings? He wasn’t sure, he knew there wasn’t anything like that in Kaon, but maybe Vos and Iacon and some of the better off cities had things like that. Could sparklings even read at their age? Another thought came to him and he frowned. Had their Creators even bothered to teach them to read and write if they were old enough? It was already obvious they’d been mistreated before being abandoned by their Creators and Megatron wondered how much they’d been left to their devices.

He sent a quick, worried message to Soundwave about it before realizing his bonded probably didn’t know the answer to his question at the moment. Symbiotes didn’t have to learn most skills like sparklings did as far as Megatron knew. Soundwave’s five creations had always been able to speak, read, and write among other things for as long as Megatron had known them.

The Warlord wrote a quick reply to Starscream saying how he’d appreciate all the assistance he could offer and asking if the Seeker could help with both a temporary berthroom and a permanent one attached to his hab suite. He also decided to ask the Seeker if he could get anything for his sparklings or knew where he could find them things to keep them busy. He didn’t want to bother with going to Barricade with this, the twins, after all, weren’t supposed to be common knowledge yet. He was sure his Second would either be overjoyed and tripping over himself and his trinemates to help with the twins or he would be laughing at his leader for his shortsightedness. At this point, Megatron didn’t care which one it was.

He heard Snowdrift and Seacrystal shouting excitedly from elsewhere and went to go check in on them and Ravage. The black cybercat was laying on top of the sofa watching over the twins when Megatron walked into the main part of his hab suite. She looked over at him and then back down at the sparklings who had found a sort of hide out under the sofa. They were chirping rapidly at each other but stopped when they heard his heavy ped steps. Both poked their helms out from underneath the sofa at him, grinned and went back into hiding with a bright giggle.

“They’ve been under there for the last breem.” Ravage said with amusement in her voice and EM field.

Megatron smirked at her. “Is that so?” He heard them giggle again. “Do you know when your siblings and Soundwave  will be back?”

“Soon. The Boss just finished talking with Rumble and Frenzy. You know how they can be most of the time.”

“I do,” he replied and sat down on the sofa next to Ravage. He wasn’t surprised at all when Snowdrift grabbed his heel strut and poked his head out from under the sofa. He was grinning widely and then giggled insanely as he disappeared back underneath his new hideout.

They only had to wait a few breems until Soundwave pinged Megatron that they were almost at the door and both Rumble and Frenzy had promised to behave around Snowdrift and Seacrystal. The Warlord wasn’t sure how good their promise actually was, but he knew they would listen to both Soundwave and himself as well as Ravage if they got on her nerves.

“Do you two want to stay down there or do you want to be up here on the sofa when Soundwave and the rest of symbiotes get here in a few kliks?”

Both shot out from under the furniture and stood as quickly as they could, Snowdrift held his arms in the air and demanded to be picked up. Megatron chuckled at how excited and nervous they were and picked them both up, letting them settle wherever they wanted to. They both made themselves comfortable on his lap as their fields flared with excitement and nervousness.

“Don’t worry about anything,” Ravage said calmly from her perch on the sofa’s back. “They’ll all love you.”

“You sure?” The white sparkling questioned, looking up at her with large, round optics.

“Positive.”

“But how do you know?” He questioned further.

“Because we all share pieces from the same spark and I love you both.”

There was no arguing with Ravage when she used that tone of voice and both nodded at her, a little shocked. No one had ever said anything like that to them in a long time. They tried to settle down but just couldn’t. Snowdrift was practically vibrating by the time the entry door slide open. Soundwave walked in, Laserbeak and Buzzsaw perched on each shoulder while Rumble and Frenzy walked next to him.

The room was quiet for a few kliks, the twins looked between the five newcomers and shifted nervously from all the attention focused on them. “They’re so tiny.” Rumble gasped before his brother elbowed him in the side as hard as he could. “Ow! What? It’s true! Finally I’m taller than someone who isn’t the size of a cybercat.”

Ravage glared at her youngest siblings who were snickering at her expense. “Don’t be rude, you know what happens to rude little symbiotes.”

They both groaned and walked closer to the sofa. Laserbeak trilled happily and launched herself from Soundwave’s shoulder and flew over to Megatron. She trilled and clicked in greeting and settled on his shoulder pauldron after flying a quick circle around the room. The little bird nuzzled the side of his helm until he reached up and ran his fingers carefully over her wings. Buzzsaw pushed himself off the host’s shoulder and flew straight at his sister, intent on pushing her off her spot. Laserbeak shrieked at him when she saw him coming at her. She pecked and beat her wings at him when he tried to push her off her perch until he finally gave up and landed next to Ravage muttering about absurd, pushy sisters quietly.

Snowdrift and Seacrystal watched the two cyber-falcons with wide optics. “Don’t mind them,” their heads snapped to look at Frenzy as he spoke. “They always fight over Megatron and Laserbeak always wins. It’s nothing new.”

Laserbeak hummed happily from her spot and cooed at the twins who looked at her again. She fluttered her wings and chirped questioningly at them. Both blinked before Snowdrift chirred uncertainly at the falcon. She froze completely for a nano-klik then her field exploded into absolute joy as she trilled excitedly at them.

The others could only stare in shock as the three started a rapid conversation that jumped back and forth between the twins and Laserbeak. Rumble was the one to finally break the the others spell of silence.

“Well that’s weird.”

Ravage glared before lunging off the back of the sofa, landing on top of Rumble as he squeaked in fear and gave him a cuff on his helm. “You had better be quiet. You know Laserbeak hasn’t been able to actually talk to someone normally for vorns since her accident. And don’t be rude to Snow and Sea.”

“Awe, come on, they aren’t even paying any attention to us.”

Ravage looked up at Soundwave as he walked over and sat next to Megatron. Laserbeak twitched a wing at him in greeting, but the twins didn’t seem to notice him as he sat next to them. They only noticed he was there when he ran a servo over the back of their helms. They looked up at him as his field brushed theirs, clearly overjoyed that they were getting along well with all of his symbiotes, especially Laserbeak.

The violet and black bird chirped a question at them that had the twins perk up instantly. Seacrystal turned to Megatron with a huge grin and bright, golden optics while his brother continued talking with Laserbeak. “Can we go see their room? Beaky says it’s okay with her if we do.”

The silver mech nodded slowly, still a little shocked that they could talk and understand Laserbeak. Both sparklings shouted excitedly before scrambling off of his lap and the sofa. Laserbeak circled around them and then flew off toward her shared room, the other symbiotes following after them. Megatron turned to look at his bonded and found the silent mech was trying not to laugh. He grinned at him before stroking a servo against the side of Soundwave’s helm. He didn’t have to ask the host mech to remove his visor in here and it was already off as Soundwave leaned forward and captured the Warlord’s lips in a kiss.

He pulled back and grinned at the silver mech. “What was that you said about them being calm and perfectly behaved?”

“At least they asked first and didn’t just run off.” Megatron muttered as his lover snickered at him. It was looking like he would need Starscream’s help after all.


	8. Settling In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The twins finally get a day to get used to their new surroundings and new family members.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god, I'm so sorry this took so long. I've had it written up for a while and just needed to find the time to type it all up. Unfortunately school was crazy the last two terms because They were my last terms before graduating from community college. Now I've got all summer to write and only a few more chapters to go :D

It was almost two cycles later when the twins emerged from the symbiotes shared room. Both were hungry and exhausted from all the excitement and Snowdrift was whining almost non-stop about almost anything he could think of. Soundwave just smiled faintly, picked both up without a second thought, and carried them to his berthroom while Megatron got their energon ready before following his mate to their room.  
Seacrystal was almost in recharge by the time he made it to their berthroom while Snowdrift tried to fight his obvious exhaustion. “Drink your energon and then recharge. You’ve both been very busy today.” He kept his voice soft as he handed them their cubes.  
“ ‘m not tired,” Snow grumbled into his cube, but still carefully sipped the warmed energon.  
“If you say so.” He took the cubes from them as they finished, setting them on the berth side table. He climbed onto the berth and settled next to his sparkmate and sparklings. Seacrystal was already deep in recharge, curling against Soundwave’s side while Snowdrift was fighting to keep his optics open and online.  
Soundwave started to hum quietly and stroked the white sparklings back. It was a bit unfair and poor Snow couldn’t stay awake any longer, slipping into recharge and nuzzling into his brother’s side. Soundwave kept humming for a little longer until he was certain both had fallen into a deep recharge cycle and wouldn’t wake up.  
“Starscream sent me a private message earlier.” The Warlord rumbled faintly after a few kliks of silence.  
“About Snowdrift and Seacrystal?”  
“Mostly, but he also talked a lot about Seekers and Vosian culture. Well, not exactly a lot, but just enough to make me realize we’ve never bothered to learn much about the strongest part of our army. It’s all very complex and I feel he barely told me anything at all.”  
“From what little I have managed to gather of their culture, all of it is extremely complex and layered and has existed for so long none would ever think of changing it. Some might question and push at certain rules and traditions, but it’s rare and they never push too hard. I think our uprising has made them question some of the older traditions that aren’t really needed.”  
Megatron snorted. “I’m pretty sure Starscream is an exception to all of that.”  
“Starscream is usually the exception in most regards. From what I’ve gathered on his trine, Thundercracker is extremely traditional and it helps balance out Starscream’s need for defiance against traditions he deems archaic. It’s one of the only reasons I’ve found so far as to why Seekers form their trines. They balance each other out. The other reason I’ve found is because of how social they are and forming smaller groups to fly and fight with only makes sense.” Soundwave paused as Sea shifted to nuzzle more against his side. He smiled at petted the mechling’s side. “What did he want to know about our sparklings?”  
“If he could help us with them. Apparently all Seekers are drawn to sparklings, some more so than others. He thinks it might cause problems later on for him and his trine.”  
“And? Should we let him near them?” Soundwave already had an answer, but he wanted to see what his mate had thought of the whole thing first.  
“I don’t see the harm in letting him. I’ll send you the message to read over in the morning, if anything you’ll be able to add things to your files about Seekers and their customs and culture. I did ask him if he could help us arrange space for a new berthroom attached to our rooms and if he could get something to keep them entertained for a while.”  
“Well at least he can help us set things up for them. I’ll go over that message in the morning, I don’t have a lot on or about Seekers unfortunately.”  
“Starscream did mention that sparklings are practically sacred to Seekers and that they’re protected at all cost.”  
“Another important thing to know. I think they’ll be fine around him. But enough of that, we should get some recharge in before they wake up and we have to get back to leading an army and surveillance. Hopefully Starscream and his trine will help us with them.”  
“I hope so as well,” the silver mech murmured and snuggled into Soundwave’s side around their sparklings. “We can figure things out in the morning.

…

Ravage powered up slowly, not wanting to wake her siblings this early in the morning. They were all tired from sparkling-sitting the previous solar cycle. Apparently, sparklings had a lot more energy than five symbiotes and they weren’t even fully recovered from their whole ordeal and injuries. They cybercat was impressed by that and had to wonder what Megatron had gotten them all into.  
She shouted those thoughts aside and stretched out on her cushion. It was time for work after all. She crept out of the room and looked at the closed door to Megatron and Soundwave’s rooms. She usually used the vent in there to get out of the hab suite, but she wasn’t sure how lightly the sparklings recharged and didn’t feel like disturbing them or the other two mechs recharging.  
She moved silently through the hab suite, heading for the front entrance. It was rare for the spy to use anything other than the vents to move around the underground labyrinth of the gladiatorial ring, but she did, occasionally, use the doors. After all, entering through doors wasn’t as fun or as terrifying than suddenly dropping out of a vent onto an unsuspecting mech.  
Ravage moved as quickly as she could through the darkened entryway, wanting to get her scouting mission done with as soon as possible so she could spend more time with the sparklings. In her haste, she didn’t see the small box in the middle of the floor.

…

Soundwave woke quickly at the spike of shock-fear he felt from Ravage in time to hear a startled yelp from elsewhere in the rooms. Megatron grumbled in his recharge and started to stir, but the silent mech soothed him with his field. At some point during the night cycle, the twins had wiggled their way onto Megatron’s broad chest and were recharging peacefully on top of him. He didn’t want to wake any of them.  
He moved silently, following the sounds of quiet grumbling to the entryway. It was too dark to see more than blurred shapes, especially since he’d left his visor back in his berthroom. Soundwave silently scolded himself for forgetting it as he turned the lights onto a low setting.  
A startled laugh burst from his vocalizer at the sight half buried and sprawled in front of him. There was a small sized box in the middle of the floor filled with blankets and a few datapads as far as Soundwave could tell at the moment from just a quick look. There was also Ravage, stuck upside down in it, her hind legs flailed in the air and her tail twitched back and forth in obvious agitation. Whether it was about being stuck or her host’s sudden laugh, Soundwave wasn’t sure. He chuckled quietly as he knelt and picked her up out of the box. Her EM field flared with embarrassment but her optics and faceplate promised death and destruction to any who made fun of her. Honestly, she was just too adorable for her own good in Soundwave’s opinion.  
“Don’t you dare say a word about this. Not. One. Word.” She hissed out in both seething anger and embarrassment.  
“I promise,” he whispered and placed her back on her paws on the floor. She glared at him once more, hissed at the box, and then vanished out the door in less than a klik. The violet mech felt very sorry for her next target, the Autobots wouldn’t know what hit them. They’d also be lucky to find more than spilled energon once she was done with the poor mech.  
He collected the box and placed it on the main table in the kitchen area since nothing in it came back as dangerous after he ran a few scans on it. It was easier just leaving it there until morning. He returned to his berth and found Megatron in the same sprawled out position he’d left him in with Snowdrift and Seacrystal curled up together on his chest plates. Soundwave smiled at them and curled up against the Warlord’s side.

…

Megatron onlined slowly, trying to figure out why something didn’t feel quite right in the room. Soundwave wasn’t curled up against him anymore, but it wasn’t unusual for the silent mech to wake up long before he did. It was then he realised what had woken him. The sparklings weren’t sleeping on top of him anymore, in fact they weren’t anywhere in the room that he could sense. He sat up quickly, panicking for a moment until he realised they were probably safe with his mate.  
He got off the berth, stretched, then left the room to search for his family. He smirked at the sight that greeted him in the main area. Soundwave had somehow managed to get both mechlings to sit at the table for their morning energon when they were practically vibrating with excitement. He guessed it had something to do with why Rumble and Frenzy were half in recharge sitting at the table too, full energon cubes open in front of them. Laserbeak was on her perch near the table cleaning out the transformation seams on her wings and back while keeping an optic on the twins. Megatron knew Ravage was out on a mission in Autobot territory while Buzzsaw was busy with a surveillance mission near the eastern edge of Decepticon territory.  
Seacrystal noticed him first and smiled brightly in his direction. “You’re finally up!”  
“It’s about time too! We thought you were going to recharge all day.” Snowdrift added with a little huff and a roll of his optics.  
“It’s still early morning and I’m not usually up at this time of the morning.”  
“Really? But it’s so late! We like getting up early.” The white sparkling was grinning now and started to kick his pedes happily in the air.  
“Well, it’s a good thing Soundwave is an early riser in that case.” The silver mech got his own energon and sat next to the twins. “Do you two have any ideas of what you might want to do today?”  
“We wanna look through that.” Seacrystal said, pointing at a small box on the end of the table.  
Megatron lifted an optic ridge at it. He had never seen it before and couldn’t believe he’d missed it until it was pointed out to him.  
“It’s from Starscream,” Soundwave said as they all settled at the table and he placed small cubes of energon in front of the twins. Both said cheerful thank you’s before carefully drinking their breakfast.  
“When did he drop it off?”  
“Last night some time. Ravage discovered it this morning and let me know about it.” Soundwave had to suppress his chuckle when he remembered finding his symbiote upside down that morning. “I haven’t looked through it yet, but I think the datapad on top is a message from Starscream for you.”  
“We’ll go through it after we finish fueling and see what exactly it is Starscream brought for you two.”  
Both sparklings were grinning widely at that and finished their energon as quickly as they could without spilling any of it on themselves or the table. By the time they were finished, Rumble and Frenzy had fallen back into recharge on the table and were snoring quietly. They snickered at the symbiotes and Megatron couldn’t help but smile at them all.  
Soundwave sent him a private message, not wanting to break the moment, about needing to leave soon so he could get back to work early and get as much done as he could in order to spend as much time with them all that night cycle. He finished his cube and stood up, grabbing both of his recharging symbiotes to put them back in their berths before slipping out of the habsuite with a quiet goodbye.  
Megatron watched Snowdrift help his brother off his chair when they were all done and he lead them slowly into the living room with the box the Seeker had left for them. He sat down in the middle of the sofa and helped them get up and waited for them to settle comfortably on either side of him before reaching for the datapad. He turned it on and found a short note written on it from his SIC -Hope this will do for now. It’s hard to find anything for sparklings at the moment without special ordering it. We can talk about the other things for them later.- He huffed at the message, but a smile was tugging at his lip plates.  
“Where did Soundwave go?” Snow asked, looking around the room for the silent, purple mech.  
“He had to return to his work so he can spend time with us tonight without being interrupted. He said goodbye, but it was quiet.” The silver mech replied and started looking through the rest of the datapad. There were a number of puzzle type games on it for them to play, but most of it was filled with stories, both long and short ones, specifically for sparklings and younglings.  
“Are you going to leave to?” Seacrystal asked quietly. He looked up at the Warlord with big, round optics. When Megatron started to shake his head he turned back to the box, pulling out the top blanket, which was incredibly soft. He watched his brother pull out an identical one as Megatron started talking again.  
“Not today or for a few more days while you both are getting settled in. I’ll only leave if I have to, which would be during an emergency of some kind. If that does happen, Rumble and Frenzy will end up being in charge of you two and watch over you until Soundwave or I get back. I will eventually have to run an army again at some point.”  
“So,” Snow hedged as he wrapped his blanket around his shoulders and helm with wide optics. It was the softest thing he’d ever felt before. “You’ll only leave if you have to?”  
“Yes, Starscream can take care of things for the moment with Soundwave and Dreadwing until both of you are used to things and Seacrystal no longer has to wear a splint.”  
“Can we meet Starscream?” Sea asked, looking up at the Warlord with pleading optics.  
“Of course. I know he is very excited to meet you two. Sparklings and younglings are very important to Seekers and their culture.”  
“What’s a Seeker?” The white sparkling asked as he dug through the box, finally finding a fluffy pillow to pull out and poke at.  
“Simply put, they are fliers with a long heritage who come from a city called Vos. It gets even more specific and hard to understand due to coding and culture, but I’m sure Starscream would be happy to explain it all to the two of you. He’d be better at than I ever could.” Megatron said and watched as they both started to pull out pillows and then a small board game and all of its pieces. He wondered where the Seeker had found all of this in only a matter of a few cycles from the moment Starscream received the message to whenever he had dropped the box off.  
“Do you know what this is?” Seacrystal asked, holding up the game board while his brother looked through the pieces and cards.  
Megatron looked at it then at the finely carved pieces. He had absolutely no idea what it was. There wasn’t even a name scrawled on the board or any kind of instructions to go with it to help him guess. If he had to though, he was sure it was some kind of youngling game, something for Seekerlings most likely. Whatever it was, he wasn’t familiar with it.  
“Some type of board game, but I am unfamiliar with it. You’ll have to ask Starscream about it too when you meet him.”  
“What was on the ‘pad?” Snowdrift asked as he clambered onto Megatron’s lap. He was still wrapped up in the blanket and had to work an arm out so he could grab at the datapad.  
The Warlord let him take it as his twin climbed onto his lap next to his brother to look at it as well. “Just some games and stories.”  
“No videos?” The white sparkling asked.  
“None, but we do have a few vid screens if you really want to watch something later. I’m not sure what we really have on anymore.” It was likely on war propaganda was the only thing on anymore.  
Megatron watched them flick through the datapad, noting how they paid more attention to the pictures than they did to the glyphs written next to them. They probably didn’t know how to read yet, or they had just started learning to read and hadn’t gotten very far. Megatron was certain they didn’t know how to read since their Creators had abandoned them and obviously been neglectful.  
“Do you want me to read something to you?” He knew they really enjoyed stories and the last time the ex-gladiator had checked, Seekers had a number of interesting and crazy stories.  
They stopped scrolling through the titles and pictures, chirping to each other quietly for a little bit. Icy blue optics looked up at Megatron. “What’s this one about?”  
“Let’s see what it says,” the silver mech smiled at them and opened the file to read it out loud. “Sky Guardians were once an order of valiant Seekers, protecting Vos from those who sought to destroy the city and her Seekers. The order has fallen to disarray after the plains barbarians vicious attacks and it’s up to one young initiate to save them all. Skywise isn’t the fastest nor the strongest, but he is a clever and cunning mech who will stop at nothing until Vos is safe from all threats.”  
“Read that one!” Snowdrift exclaimed excitedly before adding a sheepish please when his brother gave him a look.  
“Alright, but it will take a lot of time. It’s not a short story, but a longer book. How about I read a chapter to you right now and then I’ll start reading you a chapter every night?”  
“Okay, can Soundwave read to us too?” Seacrystal asked as he settled on Megatron’s lap, wrapping his new blanket around him like his brother had earlier. Snow shifted over to sit right next to him, copying his brother’s posture perfectly.  
Megatron grinned at them and opened the book file to start reading the first chapter.

…

Starscream was pacing back and forth in front of the doors to the communications hub. Soundwave had tried his hardest to just ignore the skittish Seeker, but it had almost been an entire cycle since he’d shown up outside the doors. So far he’d just paced back and forth muttering to himself. Soundwave was extremely tempted to just open the doors and stare at the Seeker to see what he would do. He was still debating how glorious that reaction would be when the doors slide open and Starscream strode inside, effectively making the decision for the dark purple mech.  
“Soundwave,” he said haughtily, attempting to look down at the host mech. It didn’t work as well as it should have given Soundwave knew how long Starscream had been outside pacing a rut into the floor.  
“Starscream: reason for coming?” He thought about sassing the Seeker for a minute, but then thought better of it. Starscream might actually break on them if he did.  
Starscream flicked his wings back nervously. “Well,” he hedged, shifting nervously under the spy’s intense stare. He really wanted to sneer at the silent mech, wanted to start demanding to see the twins, but knew that kind of behavior would only make Soundwave kick him out of the communications hub.  
“You see, Lord Megatron asked for my assistance with the twins. Something about a private room for them attached to your habsuite and I know we have plenty of space there and more than enough resources at the moment. So, I’d like to get started on the planning as soon as possible. They should probably have their own space in the meantime so you and Lord Megatron can have some down time and they don’t always have to be around you two or your symbiotes. I’m not even sure what you two are planning on doing with them when Megatron finally decides to get back to running his army. I’m not even sure what the twins like or how they’d want their rooms laid out, or even what they’re interested in. I’ll have to ask them when I finally get to meet them.”  
The Seeker was opening his mouth to keep talking and Soundwave hurried to cut him off as quickly as he could. This was the first true break in their conversation and it was starting to feel like when Starscream would go off on a tangent while complaining, only this one felt like it could get much worse. Soundwave wasn’t even sure why he suddenly wanted that kind of Starscream back. But a grouchy, shrieking Seeker was a predictable Seeker, and Soundwave desperately wanted the predictability back.The new fretting, rambling Starscream was starting to freak him out.  
“Starscream: state purpose of coming here now.”  
“Oh, uh, right.” The Seeker laughed nervously before clearing his intake. Then he took a huge invent and let it out with a rush of words. “I really want to see the sparklings.”

…

They’d just finished the second chapter of the novel when Soundwave sent Megatron a comm request. The silver mech put the datapad down as both younglings pleaded for him to read ‘just one more chapter’. He placed a finger on his lip plates, indicating they needed to be quiet for a moment before activating the comm link. Snow pouted and crossed his arms, but fell silent when he heard the commline click.  
“Yes Soundwave?” He said out loud so the twins could hear. Both perked up instantly.  
::We may have a slight Seeker related issue on our servos soon.::  
Megatron shuddered his optics. It sounded like his bondmate was very reluctant to elaborate on it. “What sort of issue?”  
::A Starscream issue.::  
Megatron snorted and resisted the urge to roll his optics. The twins looked a little confused at his reaction to there being an issues. From what they knew and understood about issues was that it usually meant something was wrong and always ended up with screaming and sometimes even a fight. It wasn’t supposed to be this amused snort and an almost optic roll. Maybe it was a small issue?  
“It’s always a Starscream related issue, Soundwave. What has he gotten himself into this time or what does he want?”  
Soundwave sighed over the comm link. ::He paced for almost an entire cycle outside the communications hub and as soon as he entered, he started rambling on and on about the twins and needing to get started on plans for their room. I’ve never missed his screeching demands so much before, but this new behavior is worrisome. He really does want to see the twins and is genuinely concerned for them.::  
“Is he still there?”  
::Yes. He’s fidgeting right now while we’re talking.::  
“Let him fidget a little more,” he chuckled at that mental image. His SIC was always interesting to watch, especially when he got fidgety. The Warlord looked down at Snow and Sea before addressing them. “Do you two want to meet Starscream? He really wants to meet you two and make sure your both alright.”  
Both perked up at the thought of meeting someone new and exchanged a look. They rarely got to meet new mechs. “Sure, but when? Right now?” Seacrystal asked.  
“Yeah, and where?” Snowdrift piped up excitedly. As nice as their new home was, he really wanted to get out and start exploring more of their new environment. The walk here hadn’t been enough for him.  
“How about we meet him tomorrow morning here? That way he has time to get ready and then we can all have our morning energon with him.” Not to mention the fact that waiting one more night cycle would be torture for the Seeker.  
The twins liked his suggestion and nodded excitedly. “Soundwave, the twins want to meet Starscream tomorrow morning for energon in our hab.”  
::If you’re sure about that, I’ll let him know now. Maybe then he’ll leave me in peace to finish my work and go bother his Trinemates.::  
Megatron chuckled quietly. “Good luck with him. We will see you tonight when you get back.” The comm cut off and the silver mech was left with two excited sparklings who were still demanding he read more of their story. It was almost too easy to give in to their demands.

…

The front door opened silently as Ravage slipped inside and peaked out into the main room. Megatron was in the kitchen putting things away while Rumble and Frenzy kept the sparklings occupied with some kind of game. The feline wasn’t sure what game it was, but guessed it might have been a mix of two different ones with slightly different rules since all four were sitting in a circle whispering to each other. She narrowed her optics suspiciously at the circle. Ravage knew her siblings well and it looked like they were both up to no good at the moment.  
She flattened herself to the floor, grateful the tiles were dark grey like her plating and crept slowly forward with audials perked up to catch whatever was being said. It was probably a good thing both Rumble and Frenzy had their backs to her since they’d be able to find her quicker than the twins likely could.  
“Look, it’s not too difficult and it’ll be super funny too.” Rumble said and Ravage could easily hear the smirk in his voice.  
“Yup, easy and fun.” Frenzy echoed, leaning a little closer to Snow and Sea.  
“Are you sure he won’t get mad at us?” Snowdrift asked. He looked a little unsure about the whole thing. Ravage had a feeling this was about Starscream’s visit Soundwave had told her about would be happening tomorrow morning and some type of prank.  
“What about getting in trouble for it? I really don’t want to get in trouble.” The blue twin said quietly while shifting uncomfortably.  
“Pft, Screamer is always angry and screechy. ‘Sides, he won’t suspect a thing from you two, you guys can get away with this easily.” Frenzy replied.  
Ravage crept forward another few feet quickly before freezing. The twins were watching her and she placed a paw over her muzzle in the hopes they knew it to mean ‘stay quiet, don’t give me away.’ She was so close to her siblings now, just a few more feet. Luckily they kept quiet about her and looked over toward Megatron instead.  
“But what about Megatron and Soundwave?” Snowdrift asked. Ravage could tell that was more important for them than upsetting Starscream and the only thing they were concerned about.  
Ravage crept forward again as Rumble replied. “Don’t worry, they won’t care. Trust me, they’re always messing with Screamer in some way. Come on, it’ll be funny.”  
Rumble was trying his hardest to coax and even prod the twins into their plan. Ravage figured this was probably the best time for her to pounce.  
She sprang forward, launching herself with a roar at her youngest siblings. She crashed into their backs before pinning them to the floor triumphantly. They barely had time to cry out in shock before their helms were pushed into the floor. Ravage leaned in close to their audials, tail flicking excitedly, before speaking just loud enough for the twins to hear.  
“What do you two think you’re doing? Are you Pressuring two sweet, adorable, innocent younglings into doing your dirty work?” She tsked at them before sending the startled twins a wide grin.  
It was likely they hadn’t been expecting her to pounce on her own family members, but that’s what happened when you ended up with Frenzy and Rumble as younger brothers. Ravage noticed Megatron watching them with a curious look. She was a little shocked he’d paused in his cleaning the kitchen to check on them even though it was just a tiny cry of shock from her younger siblings. Nothing strange there. She decided to just ignore him and focused all her attention on Frenzy.  
“Ugh, get off of us ya goody two paws! We weren’t pressuring the bitlets into anything!” The red and black symbiote grumbled.  
“Hey! We aren’t ‘bitlets’ anymore!” Snowdrift snapped at him and crossed his arms over his chest.  
"Uh-huh, sure. If you insist little bit.” Rumble chuckled only to gasp as Ravage pushed her paw down harder between their shoulder blades with a quiet warning growl. “Ack,okay, okay, we get it, crazy! We’re sorry Now lay off, will ya?”  
Ravage snorted and rolled her optics at them but did as she was asked and moved off of them. “I don’t see why you’re trying to make them prank Starscream on their first meeting with him. It would be far more effective if you waited a little longer for whatever it is you’re planning on doing. Besides, they should meet and get to know each other first. Starscream is really looking forward to tomorrow morning. You both know how important first impressions are. Not to mention with more time you can make this prank bigger and far more elaborate if you wait another week or two.”  
The twin symbiotes’ grins widened and became far more wicked than earlier as Ravage lay down next to Seacrystal. “So we started out with this idea for a hardened, hollowed out ball filled with enough bright pink paint to cover Screamer from helm to pede after Sea and Snow give it to him and we remote detonate it.”  
“Well, that’s a good starting place, but I’m sure we can all improve it even more if we work together now.” Ravage grinned as her tail flicked back and forth excitedly.

…

Megatron grinned at the circle of plotting symbiotes and sparklings. He’d already known Rumble and Frenzy were up to no good and it wasn’t even that shocking when Ravage decided to join in on the plotting. The cybercat loved plotting and planning. She usually tended to not join her youngest siblings in their pranks though. It probably had something to do with the sparklings getting involved in the prank and Starscream’s upcoming visit with them the next morning.  
The silver mech hoped Ravage could put off whatever prank Rumble and Frenzy were plotting for a later date. As much as he loved messing around with his Second, he knew how important this was for the Seeker and what it meant to him. It was also an important day for Snowdrift and Seacrystal too. Megatron wasn’t exactly sure how often they’d gotten to socialize before they were abandoned in a war zone or if they’d even gotten the chance to do so. He knew how important it was for young mechs to socialize.  
At the very least, tomorrow would be a busy day for all involved. Starscream was probably already cleaning and polishing himself to perfection. He froze and looked over at the twins again. Now that he thought about it, he wasn’t sure when they’d last had a bath. They were last cleaned when they’d been in the med bay under Knock Out’s care, but it had only been a light, surface clean. All it meant was they looked clean, but Megatron was pretty sure they were still filthy.  
::Soundwave, when you get back I think we should give Snow and Sea a bath. I’m also a little worried about Seacrystal. He still hasn’t sneezed yet.::  
::Ravage is also in need of a good wash.::  
::I would hurry back then before she gets wind of our plan. She’s currently helping Rumble and Frenzy plot a prank on Starscream with our sparklings.::  
::Affirmative. I’ll be back in a little while. Keep them distracted until I get back.::  
::I’ll definitely try to, love.:: He ended the comm and turned to look back at the strange circle of symbiotes and sparklings. Now all he had to do was keep them all distracted long enough for Soundwave to get back.

…

Soundwave was quick about finishing his work and hurrying back to their hab suit. He entered their home to utter chaos. Rumble and Frenzy were sprawled all over the couch cackling while Ravage tried to untangle herself from a ball of silver, sparkly streamers. Megatron had a splash of neon pink paint on his cheek plate and a stripe across his chest. Not to mention the glitter on his shoulder pauldrons. Snowdrift also had glitter on him in a pile on top of his helm and dusting his shoulders. He sat on the floor next to his little brother who was at the center of the chaos and completely unaffected by all of it.  
“What happened here?” The spy asked as he removed his visor.  
“Ask your symbiotes, they are the cause of all this.” Megatron deadpanned as he tried to wipe the paint off his cheek and ended up smearing it across his nasal ridge and onto his other cheek.  
Soundwave looked over at his giggling symbiotes with a raised optical ridge. They barely managed to get their cackling under control to answer.  
“Don’t look at us! We only grabbed supplies to do some crafts and were just startin’ to do some stuff when Sea sneezed harder than a Predacon! It was totally epic too.” Frenzy said before devolving into snickers again.  
Soundwave had to admit it was pretty amusing as he walked up to his mate. He pulled his mate’s servo away from the paint he was busy smearing all over his silver faceplates.  
“And how did you get this paint all over yourself?” He asked with a slight laugh.  
“Rumble was messing around with making a shell to fill with paint when Seacrystal sneezed.” Ravage explained and tried in vain to claw the streamers off before continuing. “He was so startled at the noise that he flung it and dove for cover under the sofa.”  
“I wasn’t scared!” The purple symbiote yelled at his sister as Frenzy started laughing harder.  
“Well since most of us are a mess, it looks like it’s bath time.” Soundwave said, which only caused more chaos to erupt in the room. The twins dove toward their hiding place under the sofa as Ravage shot to her feet and bolted toward the vent in the main berthroom. Laserbeak trilled excitedly, swooping around the room with her EM field buzzing joyously. Megatron gave chase after the cybercat since he was between her and their rooms while Soundwave snatched up the twins just before they reached the sofa. Rumble and frenzy fell off the sofa from laughing so hard and ended up in a pile of on top of purple streamers and some sparkles. They took one look at each other and started laughing harder.  
“I got her!” Megatron yelled triumphantly from the hallway and came out, holding Ravage by the back of her neck and trying to untangle some of the streamers from her chassis carefully. Megatron looked at the laughing symbiotes. “It looks like you two need a trip to the washracks too.”  
“Yup!” Rumble smirked at him from the floor. “We’ll be using the ones in the main barracks though.”  
“Yeah,” Frenzy continued. “Don’t want to be anywhere near here when Rav is in the ‘racks.” The youngest symbiotes stood, untangling each other before making their escape.  
“Now then,” the silver mech smirked. “Time for a bath.  
He turned and walked toward their private washracks with a hissing Ravage held away from his chest while Soundwave followed with the two whining sparklings. As soon as everyone was inside and the wash rack doors were locked, Megatron finally released Ravage. She glared back at the Warlord, but knew she wasn’t getting out of this one anytime soon.  
Soundwave held the twins close as they trembled against his chest. Megatron turned the solvent on and checked the temperature, adjusting it to a colder and slightly more gentle setting for Ravage and the twins. The dark grey cyber-cat glared at him one more time before giving in and slinking under the spray. Her plating flared so more of the liquid slipped between her seams as she stood there for a couple of kliks. She left the spray to quickly and moved to the far side of the wash racks to finish cleaning out her seams and then to dry off away from the wet floor.  
Megatron huffed a vent at her antics and turned to Soundwave. He froze when his optics landed on the terrified twins. They were clinging to the seams along Soundwave’s chest, optics wide and plating rattling in fear.  
“It’s okay,” he said softly, reaching out to take Snowdrift from his mate. The mechling clung to him after being transferred from the navy mech’s arms to the silver mech. His engine let out a stressed whine when they turned toward the spray of solvent.  
“There’s nothing to worry about, little one. Let’s start by holding out your servo to the solvent and let me know if it’s too hot or too cold for you. We aren’t in a hurry, so take your time.”  
The white sparkling nodded his helm, eyeing the spray before slowly and carefully reaching toward the spray of solvent. He flinched a little when it hit his palm, but ten he sighed. He was a little shocked at how it didn’t hurt or burn him and relaxed slightly.  
“It’s okay,” he mumbled and looked up at the silver Warlord, wondering how they were going to do this.  
“Good, let’s get cleaned up then. We’ll start with your servos and pedes and then wash the rest of you. Let me know if I need to change the temperature settings, alright?” Snowdrift nodded and Megatron gave him a reassuring smile, stroking a servo down the sparkling’s back.  
The silver mech wanted this to be a good experience for both sparklings and had a feeling no one had ever really cared for them in this way before. He wondered briefly what else had been done or neglected in regards to the twins’ care. It probably wasn’t good. Whether it was good or not, Megatron was sure the longer he and Soundwave cared for the twins, the more things they’d find out about them and what their previous home was like.  
Carefully, he shifted closer to the shower spray and moved Snowdrift into an easier position in his arms. “Make sure to flare your armor so the solvent can clean your protoform too.”  
Snowdrift nodded with a quiet ‘okay’ and did as he was instructed to do. The solvent felt nice as it washed away the grim coating his pedes and it felt even better when he flared his armor as much as possible away from his protoform. He was sighing happily by the time Megatron had finished cleaning his legs and arms.  
“You’ll need to make sure most of your vents are closed when I wash your chest and back, little one.”  
Snowdrift nodded and did as he was told again before Megatron stepped fully under the solvent spray. Both of them flared their plating and let the warm solvent wash away all the built up grime as well as the newer paint and glitter from their frames. The Warlord sighed contentedly as the white sparkling started purring loudly. He was nearly in recharge by the time Megatron had scrubbed the paint off himself and stepped out from under the shower.  
Soundwave smiled at him and walked forward, cradling Seacrystal to his chest loosely. The dark blue sparkling was already reaching toward the warm solvent spray. It took almost no time at all until Seacrystal and Soundwave had finished getting clean and the quiet mech was turning the shower off. They all got dried off before Soundwave handed Seacrystal to his mate so he could finish drying off an annoyed Ravage.  
“I think they’re ready for recharge right now.” Megatron spoke quietly with a slightly chuckle at the sleepy sparklings.  
“It’s probably a good thing too. I know they’re excited for tomorrow morning with Starscream. We’d probably never get them to recharge if they weren’t already so tired and worn out.”  
Megatron chuckled quietly. “I’m sure the warm shower and steam did wonders for both their mood and helping them recharge better too. Leave a reminder for one of us to let Knock Out know Sea finally expelled dust from his vents please. I know he’ll be happy about that and calm down a bit more once he knows. It’s too late right now to bother him and Breakdown.”  
“Does he send you reminders when to feed the twins too?” Soundwave asked with an amused smile.  
“He does, he sends me reminders at least half a cycle before it’s time too. He claims it’s to remind me to get everything ready. Because it takes half a cycle to prep energon.”  
They settled quickly in their berth with the twins curled up together on Megatron’s broad chest. Soundwave settled against his mate’s side with his helm pillowed against the silver mech’s shoulder. Both were more than happy to get to recharge early. They knew tomorrow was going to be a whirlwind of excitement and activity.

**Author's Note:**

> Time References I'm using  
> A nano-klik is approximately one Earth second  
> A klik is about 1.2 Earth minutes  
> A breem is about 8.3 minutes  
> A cycle is about 2 hours  
> A mega-cycle is about 93 hours  
> A deca-cycle is approx 3 weeks  
> A stellar-cycle is 7.5 months (there or thereabouts)  
> A Meta-cycle is about 13 months  
> A Vorn is 83 years


End file.
